Dataset Information

Gut Microbiota Composition Changes in Constipated Women of Reproductive Age.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chronic constipation is one of the most prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorders, yet its etiology is multifactorial, and the pathophysiological mechanism is still unclear. Previous studies have shown that the gut microbiota of constipated patients differs from healthy controls; however, many discrepancies exist in the findings, and no clear link has been confirmed between chronic constipation and changes in the gut microbiota. Growing evidence indicates that age, gender, and hormone levels can affect the composition of gut microbiota. The aim of this study is to examine the overall changes in gut microbiota within a specific sub-population of patients, namely, constipated women of reproductive age.

Methods

We carried out a cross-sectional study comparing the fecal microbial composition of 30 healthy women and 29 constipated women using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Only women of reproductive age were recruited to reduce the effects of age, gender, and hormone levels on the microbiome, and to prevent conflating the impact of these factors with the effects of constipation.

Results

There were obvious differences in the gut microbiota in constipated women of reproductive age compared with the healthy controls, manifesting mainly as a significant increase in the abundance of Bacteroides (p < 0.05) and a significant decrease in the abundance of Proteobacteria (p < 0.01). The overall composition of the gut microbiota in each group was different, which was reflected in the ratios of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B), which was 1.52 in the constipated group vs. 2.21 in the healthy group. Additionally, there was a significant decrease in butyrate-producing bacteria, like Roseburia and Fusicatenibacter (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

The overall composition of the gut microbiota changed in constipated women of reproductive age, characterized by a loss in Proteobacteria and an increase in Bacteroidetes. Furthermore, the abundance of some butyrate-producing bacteria also reduced. These changes may reflect the unique interactions between host and some bacteria, or some bacterial metabolic products, which may be important targets for future studies to explore the pathogenesis of constipation.

SUBMITTER: Li H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7859112 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Gut Microbiota Composition Changes in Constipated Women of Reproductive Age.

Li Hongxia H Chen Jianwei J Ren Xiaojing X Yang Chuanli C Liu Shuai S Bai Xinshu X Shan Shuhua S Dong Xiushan X

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology 20210121

<h4>Background</h4>Chronic constipation is one of the most prevalent functional gastrointestinal disorders, yet its etiology is multifactorial, and the pathophysiological mechanism is still unclear. Previous studies have shown that the gut microbiota of constipated patients differs from healthy controls; however, many discrepancies exist in the findings, and no clear link has been confirmed between chronic constipation and changes in the gut microbiota. Growing evidence indicates that age, gende ...[more]

PMID: 33552996

Similar Datasets

Project description:Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the changes observed during aging is a prerequisite to design strategies to prevent age-related diseases. Aging is associated with metabolic changes, including alteration in the brain lipid metabolism. These alterations may contribute to the development of pathophysiological conditions. Modifications in the gut microbiota composition are also observed during aging. As communication axes exist between the gut microbiota and the brain and knowing that microbiota influences the host metabolism, we speculated on whether age-associated modifications in the gut microbiota could be involved in the lipid changes observed in aging brain. For that purpose, germ-free mice were colonized by the fecal microbiota of young or old donor mice. Lipid classes and fatty acid profiles were determined in the brain (cortex), plasma and liver by thin-layer chromatography on silica gel-coated quartz rods and gas chromatography. Gut colonization by microbiota of old mice resulted in a significant increase in total monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and a significant decrease in the relative amounts of cholesterol and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the cortex. Among the eight most represented fatty acids in the cortex, the relative abundances of five (C18:1n-9, C22:6n-3, C20:4n-6, C18:1n-7, and C20:1n-9) were significantly altered in mice inoculated with an aged microbiota. Liquid chromatography analyses revealed that the relative abundance of major species among phosphatidyl and plasmenylcholine (PC 16:0/18:1), phosphatidyl and plasmenylethanolamine (PE 18:0/22:6), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE 22:6) and sphingomyelins (SM d18:1/18:0) were significantly altered in the cortex of mice colonized by the microbiota obtained from aged donors. Transplantation of microbiota from old mice also modified the lipid class and fatty acid content in the liver. Finally, we found that the expression of several genes involved in MUFA and PUFA synthesis (Scd1, Fads1, Fads2, Elovl2, and Elovl5) was dysregulated in mice inoculated with an aged microbiota. In conclusion, our data suggest that changes in gut microbiota that are associated with aging can impact brain and liver lipid metabolisms. Lipid changes induced by an aged microbiota recapitulate some features of aging, thus pointing out the potential role of microbiota alterations in the age-related degradation of the health status.

Project description:It has been reported that the composition of human gut microbiota changes with age; however, few studies have used molecular techniques to investigate the long-term, sequential changes in gut microbiota composition. In this study, we investigated the sequential changes in gut microbiota composition in newborn to centenarian Japanese subjects.Fecal samples from 367 healthy Japanese subjects between the ages of 0 and 104 years were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of amplicons derived from the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Analysis based on bacterial co-abundance groups (CAGs) defined by Kendall correlations between genera revealed that certain transition types of microbiota were enriched in infants, adults, elderly individuals and both infant and elderly subjects. More positive correlations between the relative abundances of genera were observed in the elderly-associated CAGs compared with the infant- and adult-associated CAGs. Hierarchical Ward's linkage clustering based on the abundance of genera indicated five clusters, with median (interquartile range) ages of 3 (0-35), 33 (24-45), 42 (32-62), 77 (36-84) and 94 (86-98) years. Subjects were predominantly clustered with their matched age; however, some of them fell into mismatched age clusters. Furthermore, clustering based on the proportion of transporters predicted by phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) showed that subjects were divided into two age-related groups, the adult-enriched and infant/elderly-enriched clusters. Notably, all the drug transporters based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Orthology groups were found in the infant/elderly-enriched cluster.Our results indicate some patterns and transition points in the compositional changes in gut microbiota with age. In addition, the transporter property prediction results suggest that nutrients in the gut might play an important role in changing the gut microbiota composition with age.

Project description:Background and objectiveBacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal disorder, characterized by depletion of the normal lactobacillus-dominant microbiota and overgrowth of commensal anaerobic bacteria. This study aimed to investigate the composition of the vaginal microbiota in women of reproductive age (healthy women and women with BV), with the view of developing molecular criteria for BV diagnosis.Materials and methodsVaginal samples from 163 women (79 control, 73 BV and 11 intermediate (Lactobacillary grade II flora) cases) were analyzed using 454 pyrosequencing of the hypervariable regions V3-V4 of the 16S rRNA gene and 16 quantitative bacterial species/genus-specific real-time PCR assays. Sensitivities and specificities of potential BV markers were computed using the Amsel criteria as reference standard for BV. The use of quantitative thresholds for prediction of BV, determined for both relative abundance measured with 454 pyrosequencing and bacterial load measured with qPCR, was evaluated.ResultsRelative to the healthy women, the BV patients had in their vaginal microbiota significantly higher prevalence, loads and relative abundances of the majority of BV associated bacteria. However, only Gardnerella vaginalis, Atopobium vaginae, Eggerthella, Prevotella, BVAB2 and Megasphaera type 1 detected at or above optimal thresholds were highly predictable for BV, with the best diagnostic accuracy shown for A. vaginae. The depletion of Lactobacillus species combined with the presence of either G. vaginalis or A. vaginae at diagnostic levels was a highly accurate BV predictor.ConclusionsQuantitative determination of the presence of G. vaginalis, A. vaginae, Eggerthella, Prevotella, BVAB2 and Megasphaera type 1 as well as the depletion of Lactobacillus was highly accurate for BV diagnosis. Measurements of abundance of normal and BV microbiota relative to total bacteria in vaginal fluid may provide more accurate BV diagnosis, and be used for test-of-cure, rather than qualitative detection or absolute counts of BV related microorganisms.

Project description:Background:Lactobacillus spp. are common bacteria in the cervical and vaginal microbiota (CVM) and are thought to represent a "healthy" cervicovaginal state. Several studies have found an independent association between ethnicity/race and cervical and vaginal microbiota (CVM) composition. Women of sub-Saharan African descent appear to be significantly more likely to have non-Lactobacillus-dominated CVM compared to women of European descent. The factors contributing to these differences remain to be fully elucidated. The CVM of Black South African women and factors influencing their CVM remain understudied. In this study, we characterized the cervical microbiota of reproductive-age South African women and assessed the associations of these microbiota with participants' metadata. Methods:The cervical microbiota from cervical DNA of 62 reproductive-age women were profiled by Ion Torrent sequencing the V4 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and analyzed with the Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology (QIIME), UPARSE, and metagenomeSeq tools. Associations between cervical microbiota and participants' metadata were assessed using GraphPad Prism, R packages and an in-house script. Results:The cervical microbiota clustered into three distinct community state types (CSTs): Lactobacillus iners-dominated cervical microbiota (CST I (38.7%, 24/62)), unclassified Lactobacillus-dominated cervical microbiota (CST II (4.8%, 3/62)), and diverse cervical microbiota (CST III (56.5%, 35/62)) with an array of heterogeneous bacteria, predominantly the bacterial vaginosis (BV)-associated Gardnerella, Prevotella, Sneathia, and Shuttleworthia. CST III was associated with BV (p = 0.001). Women in CST I were more likely to be on hormonal contraception, especially progestin-based, compared to women in CST III (odds ratio: 5.2 (95% CI [1.6-17.2]); p = 0.005). Women on hormonal contraception had a significantly lower alpha (Shannon indices: 0.9 (0.2-1.9) versus 2.3 (0.6-2.3); p = 0.025) and beta (permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) pseudo-F statistic =4.31, p = 0.019) diversity compared to non-users. There was no significant difference in the alpha (Shannon indices: 1.0 (0.3-2.2) versus 1.9 (0.3-2.2); p = 0.483) and beta (PERMANOVA pseudo-F statistic = 0.89, p = 0.373) diversity in women with versus without human papillomavirus infection. Conclusions:The majority of Black women in our study had non-Lactobacillus-dominated cervical microbiota. Additional studies are needed to examine whether such microbiota represent abnormal, intermediate or variant states of health. Lastly, the association of hormonal contraception with L. iners dominance requires further in-depth research to confirm this association, determine its biological mechanism and whether it has a beneficial effect on the cervicovaginal health.

Project description:This study was aimed to investigate whether 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) affects the digestion system of young geese and assess whether mulberry leaf, which contains this substance, has disadvantages that compromise its value as poultry feed. One hundred and twenty-eight 12-day-old male Wanxi white geese were randomly assigned into 4 treatment groups. The control group was fed an ordinary diet without DNJ. The other groups namely L-DNJ, M-DNJ, and H-DNJ had their basic diets supplemented with 0.05 mg/g, 0.1 mg/g, and 0.15 mg/g DNJ, respectively. The geese were fed for 6 wk, and the apparent digestibility test was conducted in the last week. Intestinal parameters, digestive organs, and enzymes were determined. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was conducted for cecal flora composition. The results revealed that DNJ decreased body and liver weight and increased feed conversion ratio in comparison with the control (P < 0.05); however, it did not influence the weight and length of the intestine or the pancreas weight. The utilization of organic matter, metabolizable energy, ether extract, acid detergent fiber, and calcium in feed were reduced in the M-DNJ and L-DNJ groups compared with those in the control (P < 0.05); however, the utilization of crude protein was increased in all DNJ-treated groups (P < 0.01). In the H-DNJ group, the usage of soluble phosphorus was also increased (P < 0.05). High-dose DNJ increased the activity of trypsin in the pancreas but reduced those of amylase (P < 0.05) and lipase (P > 0.05) in the pancreas and duodenum. The intestinal villi were short, even impaired, in DNJ-treated groups. High-throughput sequencing data revealed that DNJ supplement reduced the α-diversity indices of the cecal microbiota. The principal component analysis further suggested a difference in community structure between the DNJ treatment groups and control. High-dose DNJ increased the relative abundance of Bacteroides, Escherichia-Shigella, and Butyricicoccus but reduced that of unclassified Ruminococcaceae compared with the control (P < 0.05). In conclusion, changes in the digestive system caused by DNJ seriously affected the metabolism of nutrients in geese and reduced their growth performance. Attention should be paid to the adverse effects of DNJ when using mulberry leaves as poultry feed.

Dataset Information

Gut Microbiota Composition Changes in Constipated Women of Reproductive Age.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Gut Microbiota Composition Changes in Constipated Women of Reproductive Age.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets