Ranking the impact of human health disorders on gut metabolism: Systemic lupus erythematosus and obesity as study cases
Multiple factors have been shown to alter intestinal microbial diversity. It remains to be seen, however, how multiple collective pressures impact the activity in the gut environment and which, if any, is positioned as a dominant driving factor determining the final metabolic outcomes. Here, we describe the results of a metabolome-wide scan of gut microbiota in 18 subjects with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and 17 healthy control subjects and demonstrate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between the two groups. Healthy controls could be categorized (p < 0.05) based on their body mass index (BMI), whereas individuals with SLE could not. We discuss the prevalence of SLE c…
HIV infection results in metabolic alterations in the gut microbiota different from those induced by other diseases.
Imbalances in gut bacteria have been associated with multiple diseases. However, whether there are disease-specific changes in gut microbial metabolism remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (n=33) changes, at quantifiable levels, the metabolism of gut bacteria. These changes are different than those observed in patients with the auto-immune disease systemic lupus erythaematosus (n=18), and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (n=6). Using healthy controls as a baseline (n=16), we demonstrate that a trend in the nature and directionality of the metabolic changes exists according to the type of the disease. The impact on the gut microbia…
Interaction of Intestinal Bacteria with Human Rotavirus during Infection in Children
The gut microbiota has emerged as a key factor in the pathogenesis of intestinal viruses, including enteroviruses, noroviruses and rotaviruses (RVs), where stimulatory and inhibitory effects on infectivity have been reported. With the aim of determining whether members of the microbiota interact with RVs during infection, a combination of anti-RV antibody labeling, fluorescence-activated cell sorting and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to characterize the interaction between specific bacteria and RV in stool samples of children suffering from diarrhea produced by G1P[8] RV. The genera Ruminococcus and Oxalobacter were identified as RV binders in stools, displaying enrichments between …