Highlights • Members of the phylum Proteobacteria have a low abundance in the gut of healthy humans. • We provide an overview of correlations between a bloom of Proteobacteria and a diseased state. • ...We explain driving mechanisms for the uncontrolled expansion of the Proteobacteria population. • Proteobacterial load is suggested as a potential diagnostic criterion for dysbiosis and disease.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Bacteriophages are central members and potential modulators of the gut microbiome; however, the ecological and evolutionary relationships of gut bacteria and phages are poorly understood. Here we ...investigated the abundance and diversity of lysogenic bacteria (lysogens) in the bacterial community of C57BL/6J mice by detecting integrated prophages in genomes reconstructed from the metagenome of commensal bacteria. For the activities of lysogens and prophages, we compared the prophage genomes with the metagenome of free phages. The majority of commensal bacteria in different taxa were identified as lysogens. More lysogens were found among Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, than among Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. The prophage genomes shared high sequence similarity with the metagenome of free phages, indicating that most lysogens appeared to be active, and that prophages are spontaneously induced as active phages; dietary interventions changed the composition of the induced prophages. By contrast, CRISPR-Cas systems were present in few commensal bacteria, and were rarely active against gut phages. The structure of the bacteria-phage infection networks was "nested-modular", with modularity emerging across taxonomic scales, indicating that temperate phage features have developed over a long phylogenetic timescale. We concluded that phage generalists contribute to the prevalence of lysogeny in the gut ecosystem.
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NUK, SBMB, SBNM, UL, UM, UPUK
Cerebral amyloidosis and severe tauopathy in the brain are key pathological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite a strong influence of the intestinal microbiota on AD, the causal ...relationship between the gut microbiota and AD pathophysiology is still elusive.
Using a recently developed AD-like pathology with amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles (ADLP
) transgenic mouse model of AD, which shows amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and reactive gliosis in their brains along with memory deficits, we examined the impact of the gut microbiota on AD pathogenesis.
Composition of the gut microbiota in ADLP
mice differed from that of healthy wild-type (WT) mice. Besides, ADLP
mice showed a loss of epithelial barrier integrity and chronic intestinal and systemic inflammation. Both frequent transfer and transplantation of the faecal microbiota from WT mice into ADLP
mice ameliorated the formation of amyloid β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, glial reactivity and cognitive impairment. Additionally, the faecal microbiota transfer reversed abnormalities in the colonic expression of genes related to intestinal macrophage activity and the circulating blood inflammatory monocytes in the ADLP
recipient mice.
These results indicate that microbiota-mediated intestinal and systemic immune aberrations contribute to the pathogenesis of AD in ADLP
mice, providing new insights into the relationship between the gut (colonic gene expression, gut permeability), blood (blood immune cell population) and brain (pathology) axis and AD (memory deficits). Thus, restoring gut microbial homeostasis may have beneficial effects on AD treatment.
Calf diarrhea is associated with enteric infections, and also provokes the overuse of antibiotics. Therefore, proper treatment of diarrhea represents a therapeutic challenge in livestock production ...and public health concerns. Here, we describe the ability of a fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), to ameliorate diarrhea and restore gut microbial composition in 57 growing calves. We conduct multi-omics analysis of 450 longitudinally collected fecal samples and find that FMT-induced alterations in the gut microbiota (an increase in the family Porphyromonadaceae) and metabolomic profile (a reduction in fecal amino acid concentration) strongly correlate with the remission of diarrhea. During the continuous follow-up study over 24 months, we find that FMT improves the growth performance of the cattle. This first FMT trial in ruminants suggest that FMT is capable of ameliorating diarrhea in pre-weaning calves with alterations in their gut microbiota, and that FMT may have a potential role in the improvement of growth performance.
Summary
Gut microbial biogeography is a key feature of host–microbe relationships. In gut viral ecology, biogeography and responses to dietary intervention remain poorly understood. Here, we ...conducted a metagenomic study to determine the composition of the mucosal and luminal viromes of the gut and to evaluate the impact of a Western diet on gut viral ecology. We found that mucosal and luminal viral assemblages comprised predominantly temperate phages. The mucosal virome significantly differed from the luminal virome in low‐fat diet‐fed lean mice, where spatial variation correlated with bacterial microbiota from the mucosa and lumen. The mucosal and luminal viromes of high‐fat, high‐sucrose ‘Western’ diet‐fed obese mice were significantly enriched with temperate phages of the Caudovirales order. Interestingly, this community alteration occurred to a greater extent in the mucosa than lumen, leading to loss of spatial differences; however, these changes recovered after switching to a low‐fat diet. Temperate phages enriched in the Western diet‐induced obese mice were associated with the Bacilli, Negativicutes and Bacteroidia classes and temperate phages from the Bacteroidia class particularly encoded stress and niche‐specific functions advantageous to bacterial host adaptation. This study illustrates a biogeographic view of the gut virome and phage–bacterial host connections under the diet‐induced microbial dysbiosis.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Although pelvic irradiation is effective for the treatment of various cancer types, many patients who receive radiotherapy experience serious complications. Gut microbial dysbiosis was hypothesized ...to be related to the occurrence of radiation-induced complications in cancer patients. Given the lack of clinical or experimental data on the impact of radiation on gut microbiota, a prospective observational study of gut microbiota was performed in gynecological cancer patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy. In the current study, the overall composition and alteration of gut microbiota in cancer patients receiving radiation were investigated by 454 pyrosequencing. Gut microbial composition showed significant differences (P < 0.001) between cancer patients and healthy individuals. The numbers of species-level taxa were severely reduced after radiotherapy (P < 0.045), and the abundance of each community largely changed. In particular, the phyla Firmicutes and Fusobacterium were significantly decreased by 10% and increased by 3% after radiation therapy, respectively. In addition, overall gut microbial composition was gradually remolded after the full treatment course of pelvic radiotherapy. In this set of cancer patients, dysbiosis of the gut microbiota was linked to health status, and the gut microbiota was influenced by pelvic radiotherapy. Although further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between dysbiosis and complications induced by pelvic radiotherapy, the current study may offer insights into the treatment of cancer patients suffering from complications after radiation therapy.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Our understanding of the gut microbiota of animals is largely based on studies of mammals. To better understand the evolutionary basis of symbiotic relationships between animal hosts and indigenous ...microbes, it is necessary to investigate the gut microbiota of non-mammalian vertebrate species. In particular, fish have the highest species diversity among groups of vertebrates, with approximately 33,000 species. In this study, we comprehensively characterized gut bacterial communities in fish.
We analyzed 227 individual fish representing 14 orders, 42 families, 79 genera, and 85 species. The fish gut microbiota was dominated by Proteobacteria (51.7%) and Firmicutes (13.5%), different from the dominant taxa reported in terrestrial vertebrates (Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes). The gut microbial community in fish was more strongly shaped by host habitat than by host taxonomy or trophic level. Using a machine learning approach trained on the microbial community composition or predicted functional profiles, we found that the host habitat exhibited the highest classification accuracy. Principal coordinate analysis revealed that the gut bacterial community of fish differs significantly from those of other vertebrate classes (reptiles, birds, and mammals).
Collectively, these data provide a reference for future studies of the gut microbiome of aquatic animals as well as insights into the relationship between fish and their gut bacteria, including the key role of host habitat and the distinct compositions in comparison with those of mammals, reptiles, and birds. Video Abstract.
Background and Aims
Currently there is no Food and Drug Administration–approved drug to treat NAFLD and NASH, the rates of which are increasing worldwide. Although NAFLD/NASH are highly complex and ...heterogeneous conditions, most pharmacotherapy pipelines focus on a single mechanistic target. Considering the importance of the gut‐liver axis in their pathogenesis, we investigated the therapeutic effect of a long‐acting dual agonist of glucagon‐like peptide (GLP)‐1 and GLP‐2 receptors in mice with NAFLD/NASH.
Approach and Results
C57BL/6J mice were fed a choline‐deficient high‐fat diet/high fructose and sucrose solution. After 16 weeks, mice were randomly allocated to receive vehicle, GLP1‐Fc, GLP2‐Fc, or GLP1/2‐Fc fusion (GLP1/2‐Fc) subcutaneously every 2 days for 4 weeks. Body weight was monitored, insulin/glucose tolerance tests were performed, feces were collected, and microbiome profiles were analyzed. Immobilized cell systems were used to evaluate direct peptide effect. Immunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR, immunoblot analysis, tunnel assay, and biochemical assays were performed to assess drug effects on inflammation, hepatic fibrosis, cell death, and intestinal structures. The mice had well‐developed NASH phenotypes. GLP1/2‐Fc reduced body weight, glucose levels, hepatic triglyceride levels, and cellular apoptosis. It improved liver fibrosis, insulin sensitivity, and intestinal tight junctions, and increased microvillus height, crypt depth, and goblet cells of intestine compared with a vehicle group. Similar effects of GLP1/2‐Fc were found in in vitro cell systems. GLP1/2‐Fc also changed microbiome profiles. We applied fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) gain further insight into the mechanism of GLP1/2‐Fc–mediated protection. We confirmed that FMT exerted an additive effect on GLP1‐Fc group, including the body weight change, liver weight, hepatic fat accumulation, inflammation, and hepatic fibrosis.
Conclusions
A long‐acting dual agonist of GLP‐1 and GLP‐2 receptors is a promising therapeutic strategy to treat NAFLD/NASH.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Oral microbiota can alter cancer susceptibility and progression by modulating metabolism and inflammation. We assessed the association between the oral microbiome and lymph node (LN) metastasis in ...oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We collected a total of 54 saliva samples from patients with OSCC before surgery. LN metastasis was assessed based on postoperative pathological examination. We used QIIME2, linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe), and PICRUSt2 methods to analyze microbial dysbiosis. A random forest classifier was used to assess whether the oral microbiome could predict LN metastasis. Among the 54 OSCC samples, 20 had LN metastasis, and 34 had no evidence of metastasis. There was a significant difference in β-diversity between the metastasis and no metastasis groups. Through LEfSe analysis, the metastasis group was enriched in the genera Prevotella, Stomatobaculum, Bifidobacterium, Peptostreptococcaceae, Shuttleworthia and Finegoldia. Pathways related to signal peptidase II were predominant in the no metastasis group. The RF model showed a modestly high accuracy for predicting metastasis. Differences in microbial community composition and functions were observed in the oral microbiome of patients with OSCC with and without LN metastasis. However, the finding that specific taxa may be associated with LN metastasis should be verified in a further prospective study.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK