Altered metabolism of gut microbiota contributes to chronic immune activation in HIV-infected individuals.

Altered interplay between gut mucosa and microbiota during treated HIV infection may possibly contribute to increased bacterial translocation and chronic immune activation, both of which are predictors of morbidity and mortality. Although a dysbiotic gut microbiota has recently been reported in HIV + individuals, the metagenome gene pool associated with HIV infection remains unknown. The aim of this study is to characterize the functional gene content of gut microbiota in HIV + patients and to define the metabolic pathways of this bacterial community, which is potentially associated with immune dysfunction. We determined systemic markers of innate and adaptive immunity in a cohort of HIV-in…