Project description:Aging is associated with declining immunity and inflammation as well as alterations in the gut microbiome with a decrease of beneficial microbes and increase in pathogenic ones. The aim of this study was to investigate aging associated gut microbiome in relation to immunologic and metabolic profile in a non-human primate (NHP) model. 12 old (age>18 years) and 4 young (age 3-6 years) Rhesus macaques were included in this study. Immune cell subsets were characterized in PBMC by flow cytometry and plasma cytokines levels were determined by bead based multiplex cytokine analysis. Stool samples were collected by ileal loop and investigated for microbiome analysis by shotgun metagenomics. Serum, gut microbial lysate and microbe-free fecal extract were subjected to metabolomic analysis by mass-spectrometry. Our results showed that the old animals exhibited higher inflammatory biomarkers in plasma and lower CD4 T cells with altered distribution of naïve and memory T cell maturation subsets. The gut microbiome in old animals had higher abundance of Archaeal and Proteobacterial species and lower Firmicutes than the young. Significant enrichment of metabolites that contribute to inflammatory and cytotoxic pathways was observed in serum and feces of old animals compared to the young. We conclude that aging NHP undergo immunosenescence and age associated alterations in the gut microbiome that has a distinct metabolic profile.
Project description:The gut microbiota plays an important role in host health. Microbiota dysbiosis has been implicated in the global epidemic of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and could impair host metabolism by noxious metabolites. It has been well established that the gut microbiota is shaped by host immune factors. However, the effect of T cells on the gut microbiota is yet unknown. Here, we performed a metagenomic whole-genome shotgun sequencing (mWGS) study of the microbiota of TCRb-/- mice, which lack alpha/beta T cells.
Project description:We compared the microbiota of paired mouse caecal contents and faeces by applying a multi-omic approach, including 16S rDNA sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, and shotgun metaproteomics. The aim of the study was to verify whether faecal samples are a reliable proxy for the mouse colonic luminal microbiota, as well as to identify changes in taxonomy and functional activity between caecal and faecal microbial communities, which have to be carefully considered when using stool as sample for mouse gut microbiota investigations.
Project description:Dysbiotic configurations of the human gut microbiota have been linked with colorectal cancer (CRC). Human small non-coding RNAs are also implicated in CRC and recent findings suggest that their release in the gut lumen contributes to shape the gut microbiota. Bacterial small RNAs (bsRNAs) may also play a role in carcinogenesis but their role is less explored. Here, we performed small RNA and shotgun sequencing on 80 stool specimens of patients with CRC, or adenomas, and healthy subjects collected in a cross-sectional study to evaluate their combined use as a predictive tool for disease detection. We reported a considerable overlap and correlation between metagenomic and bsRNA quantitative taxonomic profiles obtained from the two approaches. Furthermore, we identified a combined predictive signature composed by 32 features from human and microbial small RNAs and DNA-based microbiome able to accurately classify CRC from healthy and adenoma samples (AUC= 0.87). In summary we reported evidence that host-microbiome dysbiosis in CRC can be observed also by altered small RNA stool profiles. Integrated analyses of the microbiome and small RNAs in the human stool may provide insights for designing more accurate tools for diagnostic purposes.
Project description:The role of gut microbiome dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of psoriasis has gained increasing attention in recent years. Secukinumab, targeting interleukin (IL)-17, has a promising efficacy in psoriasis treatment. However, it remains unclear the gut microbiota alteration and related functional changes caused by successful secukinumab therapy in psoriatic patients. In our study, we compared fecal microbiome profile between psoriatic patients after secukinumab successful treatment (AT) and the other two groups, psoriatic patients without therapy (BT) and healthy people (H), respectively by using next-generation sequencing targeting 16S ribosomal RNA. Then, shotgun metagenomic sequencing was firstly used to characterize bacterial gut microbial communities and related functional change in AT group. We found that the diversity and structure of the microbial community in AT group were significantly changed compared to that of BT group and H group. AT group showed a microbiota profile characterized by increased proportions of the phylum Firmicute, families Ruminococcaceae, and a reduction in the phylum Bacteroidota (elevated F/B ratio). To detect functional alteration, we discovered that secukinumab treatment may construct a more stable homeostasis of gut microbiome with functional alteration. There were different KEGG pathways such as downregulated cardiovascular diseases pathway and upregulated infectious diseases in AT group. By metagenomic analysis, metabolic functional pathway was changed after secukinumab therapy. It seems that gut microbiota investigation during biologic drug treatment is useful for predicting the efficacy and risks of drug treatment in disease.
Project description:The role of gut microbiome dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of psoriasis has gained increasing attention in recent years. Secukinumab, targeting interleukin (IL)-17, has a promising efficacy in psoriasis treatment. However, it remains unclear the gut microbiota alteration and related functional changes caused by successful secukinumab therapy in psoriatic patients. In our study, we compared fecal microbiome profile between psoriatic patients after secukinumab successful treatment (AT) and the other two groups, psoriatic patients without therapy (BT) and healthy people (H), respectively by using next-generation sequencing targeting 16S ribosomal RNA. Then, shotgun metagenomic sequencing was firstly used to characterize bacterial gut microbial communities and related functional change in AT group. We found that the diversity and structure of the microbial community in AT group were significantly changed compared to that of BT group and H group. AT group showed a microbiota profile characterized by increased proportions of the phylum Firmicute, families Ruminococcaceae, and a reduction in the phylum Bacteroidota (elevated F/B ratio). To detect functional alteration, we discovered that secukinumab treatment may construct a more stable homeostasis of gut microbiome with functional alteration. There were different KEGG pathways such as downregulated cardiovascular diseases pathway and upregulated infectious diseases in AT group. By metagenomic analysis, metabolic functional pathway was changed after secukinumab therapy. It seems that gut microbiota investigation during biologic drug treatment is useful for predicting the efficacy and risks of drug treatment in disease.
Project description:Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) aging is accompanied by hematopoietic reconstitution dysfunction, including loss of regenerative and engraftment ability, myeloid differentiation bias and elevated risks of hematopoietic malignancies. Gut microbiota, a key regulator of host health and immunity, has been recently reported to impact hematopoiesis. However, there is currently no empirical evidence elucidating the direct impact of gut microbiome on aging hematopoiesis. To assess these potential effects, we performed fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from young mice to aged mice and observed an increment in both the absolute number and the engraftment ability of HSCs. Single cell RNA sequencing depicted overall transcriptional changes of HSCs as well as the bone marrow microenvironment and indicated that gut microbiota from young mice enhanced cell cycle activity of HSCs, attenuated canonical inflammatory signals and mitigated inflammation-associated phenotypes in aging hematopoiesis. Integrated microbiome-metabolome analysis uncovered that FMT reshaped gut microbiota construction and metabolite landscape, while the administration of Lachnospiraceae and tryptophan-associated metabolites promoted the recovery of hematopoiesis and rejuvenated aged HSCs. Together, our results highlighted the paramount importance of the gut microbiota in HSC aging and provided a strong rationale to limit hematopoietic exhaustion and treat hematologic disorders.
Project description:We report the first case series of ICI associated colitis successfully treated with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), with reconstitution of the gut microbiome and a relative increase in the proportion of regulatory T cells (Tregs) within the colonic mucosa. These preliminary data provide evidence that modulation of the gut microbiome may abrogate ICI-associated colitis.
Project description:This study demonstrates the usefulness of the API by generating a baseline gut microbiota profile of a healthy population and estimating reference intervals for the functional abundance of manually selected KEGG pathways. API facilitates microbiome research by providing dynamic and customizable tools for estimating reference intervals for gut microbiota functional abundances. Through the API, researchers can rapidly generate gut microbiota functional profiles of healthy populations to use as a baseline for comparison. The API also allows users to manually select specific KEGG pathways and estimate reference intervals for the functional abundance of those pathways. By generating these customized reference intervals, researchers can better understand the expected range of gut microbiota functions in healthy individuals. API enables microbiome studies to go beyond simple taxonomic profiling and delve deeper into the functional potential of gut microbiome communities. In summary, API represents a valuable tool for microbiome researchers that enhances the ability to elucidate connections between gut microbial functions and human health.