脑瘫伴癫痫儿童肠道菌群变化

目的探讨脑瘫伴癫痫儿童肠道菌群的变化。方法选择龙岗区社会福利中心诊断为脑瘫伴癫痫的31例患儿作为疾病组;另外选取同龄健康儿童30例作为健康组。留取受试者的粪便标本,提取总DNA,并对16S rRNA基因的V3-V4可变区进行扩增,并在Illumina MiSeq平台进行高通量测序。结果与健康儿童相比,疾病组儿童肠道内微生物多样性出现明显差异。在门水平优势菌群中,疾病组儿童放线菌的相对丰度明显高于健康组(32.87%vs 3.56%),而拟杆菌的相对丰度明显低于健康组(22.66%vs 53.59%)。在属水平优势菌群中,疾病组儿童双歧杆菌属、副拟杆菌属的相对丰度均明显高于健康组(26.94%vs 2.61%,5.72%vs 1.90%),其中肠杆菌属的相对丰度达6.00%,而拟杆菌属、粪杆菌属的相对丰度明显低于健康组(11.38%vs 45.16%,0.63%vs 12.78%),普雷沃菌属的相对丰度也低于健康组(3.11%vs 5.30%)。结论与同龄健康儿童相比,脑瘫伴癫痫儿童肠道菌群改变明显,菌群门水平和属水平均有明显差异。     

肺炎支原体肺炎患儿口咽部菌群的改变

目的比较健康儿童与肺炎支原体肺炎患儿口咽部菌群的差异,分析肺炎支原体感染对儿童口咽部菌群变化的可能影响。方法采用高通量测序技术,对30例肺炎支原体肺炎患儿及30例健康儿童16SrDNA进行测序分析,比较两组间的菌群多样性及在门、属水平上菌群结构差异。结果健康儿童与肺炎支原体肺炎患儿在性别、年龄、抗生素使用等方面差异无统计学意义。肺炎支原体肺炎患儿口咽部菌群多样性比健康儿童明显降低。在门水平上,Proteobacteria(变形菌门)、Bacteroidetes(拟杆菌门)和Fusobacteria(梭杆菌门)在健康儿童中相对丰度显著高于肺炎支原体肺炎患儿组,而Firmicutes(厚壁菌门)、Tenericutes(柔膜菌门)和Actinobacteria(放线菌门)在肺炎支原体肺炎患儿组中相对丰度均显著高于健康儿童组;在属水平上,两组排在相对丰度前10位的属差异具有统计学意义,共有6个属在肺炎支原体肺炎患儿中显著增加,分别为Staphylococcus(葡萄球菌)、Actinomyces(放线菌属)、Acinetobacter(不动细菌属)、Atopobium(阿托波菌属)、Corynebacterium(棒状杆菌)和Abiotrophia(营养缺陷菌属)。结论肺炎支原体肺炎患儿口咽部菌群存在明显的改变,其口咽部菌群多样性比健康儿童明显降低,在门、属水平肺炎支原体肺炎患儿与健康儿童差异均有统计学意义。     

OVA诱导小鼠哮喘模型及 DXM干预肺部菌群变化

目的了解OVA诱导的小鼠哮喘模型及地塞米松(DXM)干预后肺部菌群变化。方法构建BABL/c小鼠哮喘及DXM干预模型,通过无菌环境下肺组织切除提取肺部菌群DNA,利用Illumina MiSeq测序平台,对细菌的16SrDNA基因V4区进行高通量测序,并对测序结果进行生物信息学分析。结果 (1)模型组BALF(支气管肺泡灌洗液)中嗜酸性粒细胞及无创通气Penh值明显增高,给予DXM干预后降低;(2)α多样性指数比较显示,chao1指数和shannon指数在模型组中无明显变化,但simpson指数明显下降;(3)模型组变形菌门(其中的假单胞菌属和苍白杆菌属)丰度明显升高,厚壁菌门(其中芽胞杆菌属、乳杆菌属、青枯菌属、肉食杆菌属、类芽胞杆菌属和气球菌属)、拟杆菌门丰度下降;DXM干预后上述菌群丰度恢复至对照组水平。结论小鼠哮喘状态下肺部菌群发生紊乱,DXM干预后恢复。     

急性化脓性扁桃体炎患者咽部菌群特征

目的基于16S rRNA基因高通量测序技术分析急性化脓性扁桃体炎患者咽部菌群特征。方法选择2017年2月至2019年10月在我院就诊的137例急性化脓性扁桃体炎(AST)患者为AST组,选择同期我院20例体检者为对照组,每个对象于左侧扁桃体采集口咽拭子,利用16S rRNA测序技术进行高通量测序分析,并对咽拭子进行细菌培养。结果AST组患者咽部菌群Ace指数、Chao指数、Shannon指数显著低于对照组,Simpson指数显著高于对照组(P<0.05)。科水平上,AST组患者咽部葡萄球菌科和巴斯德菌科相对丰度显著增加(均P<0.05)。属水平上,AST组患者咽部葡萄球菌属、嗜血杆菌属和不动杆菌属相对丰度显著增加。细菌培养结果显示,AST组患者咽部葡萄球菌属、嗜血杆菌属和克雷伯菌属的阳性率高于对照组(均P<0.05)。结论AST患者咽部菌群与健康人相比具有一定差异。AST患者的致病菌可能隶属于葡萄球菌属、嗜血杆菌属和克雷伯菌属。     

基于高通量测序的精神分裂症患者 肠道菌群多样性

目的探讨精神分裂症患者肠道菌群多样性变化。方法收集16例精神分裂症患者(schizophrenia,Sch)与18例健康者(healthy donor,HD)的粪便样本,提取肠道菌群基因组,扩增16SrRNA基因,运用Illumina平台进行测序。对测序结果进行多样性和物种组成差异分析。结果精神分裂症患者组肠道菌群在门、纲、目、科、属、种、分类操作单元(operational taxonomic units,OTUs)水平的群落种类数目少于健康对照组。Alpha多样性指标中患者组的Ace指数(226.58±31.67)、Chao1指数(222.29±34.45)和Shannon指数(2.66±0.69)明显低于健康对照组(293.63±56.07、302.2±57.99、3.59±0.36),差异均有统计学意义(Ps0.001),而Simpson指数(0.20±0.17)明显高于健康对照组(0.07±0.03),差异有统计学意义(P0.01);Beta多样性分析显示两组研究对象肠道菌群样本可被鉴别区分。精神分裂症患者组与健康对照组样本在门和属水平上肠道菌群组成和含量有差异,其中患者组拟杆菌门和软壁菌门占比明显低于健康组,差异有统计学意义(21.76%vs.27.05%,P=0.008;0.00%vs.0.20%,P=0.033),而放线菌门明显高于健康组(13.52%vs.2.88%,P=0.020),差异有统计学意义;患者组拟杆菌属和柔嫩梭菌属占比明显低于健康组(9.15%vs.20.60%,P=0.031;3.29%vs.9.58%,P=0.005),差异有统计学意义,而双歧杆菌属、普雷沃菌属和巨单胞菌属明显高于健康组(10.89%vs.1.78%,P=0.025;10.88%vs.1.98%,P=0.046;10.78%vs.2.69%,P=0.026),差异有统计学意义。结论基于16SrRNA的高通量测序有助于分析精神分裂症患者肠道菌群多样性变化,为研究肠道菌群与精神分裂症的关系提供新的思路和理论依据。     

不同健康状态的棘胸蛙肠道菌群结构分析

为探究不同健康状态下棘胸蛙(Paa spinosa, David)肠道菌群结构, 文章对13个健康(Health组)、19个患歪头病(WHD组)和18个患蓝眼病(BED组)的棘胸蛙肠道微生物总DNA进行16S rRNA V4—V5高变区测序。结果显示: 共获得3984个总操作分类单元(Operational taxonomic units, OTUs), 35个门, 80个纲, 155个目, 283个科, 501个属。α多样性结果表明, 健康组的菌群丰富度显著高于患病组(P<0.05), 患病组间的菌群丰富度差异不显著(Chao1指数: Health: 1232.92; WHD: 975.57; BED: 1048.76); 健康和患病组间微生物群落均匀度无显著差异(Shannon指数: 5.27; 5.20; 5.41)。门分类水平分析发现: 厚壁菌门(Firmicutes; 52.08%; 49.57%; 26.48%)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes; 30.55%; 21.93%; 43.02%)和变形菌门(Proteobacteria; 15.55%;10.42%; 5.25%)是棘胸蛙肠道菌群的优势菌门。患病蛙肠道中的优势菌门及其丰度均发生变化, 特别是脱铁菌门(Deferribacteres)在歪头病组和蓝眼病组棘胸蛙肠道中丰度显著上升(0.18%; 14.05%; 22.16%; P<0.05)。属分类水平分析发现: 拟杆菌属(Bacteroides; 29.70%; 16.09%; 21.76%)、丹毒丝菌科中未定义的一个属(An unclassified Erysipelotrichaceae; 21.38%; 6.92%; 4.94%)、毛螺科中未定义的一个属(An unclassified Lachnospiraceae; 12.23%; 15.98%; 4.43%)、柠檬杆菌属(Citrobacter; 10.31%; 6.19%; 1.10%)和真杆菌属(Eubacterium; 9.09%; 4.88%; 0.54%) 是棘胸蛙肠道菌群优势菌属, 但各组间的丰度差异显著; 脱铁菌门的Mucispirillum在患病棘胸蛙肠道中丰度显著上升(0.17%; 13.89%; 21.94% ; P<0.05)。研究表明: 棘胸蛙肠道菌群结构与健康状态相关, 且健康与患病棘胸蛙肠道菌群结构差异显著。     

胃癌患者化疗前后口腔菌群与肠道菌群变化特征

目的研究胃癌患者化疗前后口腔菌群与肠道菌群的变化特征,为该类患者的治疗提供参考。方法选取2017年2月至2020年2月于我院接受治疗的96例胃癌患者为观察组,另外选取同期我院健康体检者90例为对照组,收集两组对象唾液样本和粪便样本,其中观察组患者需收集化疗前及化疗后两个时间点的样本。采用16S rRNA基因高通量测序法检测菌群构成,分析两组对象组间及观察组患者化疗前后口腔菌群与肠道菌群变化特征。结果化疗前,观察组患者唾液样本、粪便样本菌群Simpson指数、Shannon指数、厚壁菌门、拟杆菌门丰富度与对照组比较差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05)。化疗前,观察组患者唾液样本及粪便样本中放线菌门丰富度显著高于对照组,变形菌门丰富度显著低于对照组(均P<0.05)。化疗后,观察组患者唾液样本中厚壁菌门、放线菌门、变形菌门丰富度较化疗前显著下降,拟杆菌门丰富度显著上升(均P<0.05);同时粪便样本中厚壁菌门、变形菌门丰富度较化疗前显著上升,拟杆菌门、放线菌门丰富度显著下降(均P<0.05)。化疗后,观察组患者唾液样本中韦荣球菌属、罗氏菌属、普氏菌属丰富度较化疗前显著增加,放线菌属、链球菌属、奈瑟菌属、粪梭杆菌属丰度显著下降(均P<0.05);同时粪便样本中链球菌属、肠志贺菌属、乳杆菌属丰富度较化疗前显著增加,粪梭杆菌属、双歧杆菌属、拟杆菌属丰富度显著下降(均P<0.05)。结论化疗对胃癌患者口腔菌群及肠道菌群构成有一定程度影响,患者口腔菌群中韦荣球菌属丰度上升,而肠道中正常菌群的生长受抑制。     

基于16S rDNA测序的自身免疫性甲状腺疾病患者肠道菌群研究CSCD

目的 探讨Graves病患者、桥本甲状腺炎患者及健康人的肠道菌群结构、多样性和丰度差异。方法 选取2020年8月至2020年12月于湖北省中医院甲状腺疾病诊疗中心就诊的新诊断且未经治疗的Graves病患者(GD组)、桥本甲状腺炎患者(HT组)各15例以及15例年龄、性别相匹配的健康受试者(健康对照组)。采集参与者粪便样本,采用16S rDNA高通量测序法分析肠道菌群,比较各组对象肠道菌群物种组成及丰度差异。结果 与健康对照组相比,GD组患者肠道菌群Sobs指数、Ace指数、Chao指数偏低,Coverage指数偏高(均P<0.05)。GD组与HT组以及HT组与健康对照组比较,其肠道菌群Sobs指数、Ace指数、Chao指数、Coverage指数差异均无统计学意义(均P>0.05)。3组对象肠道优势菌门为拟杆菌门、厚壁菌门、变形菌门、梭杆菌门。瘤胃球菌属、罗斯伯里菌属、罗姆布茨菌属、链球菌属等在3组对象中差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05),其中GD组患者肠道乳杆菌目、链球菌属、链球菌科的相对丰度较高;HT组患者肠道瘤胃球菌属、消化链球菌科、消化链球菌—蒂氏菌目、罗姆布茨菌、梭菌科、严格厌氧梭状芽胞杆菌1、梭菌目的相对丰度较高;而罗斯伯里菌属、光冈菌属在健康对照组中丰度较高。GD组患者肠道中严格厌氧梭状芽胞杆菌1、Odoribacter、Phocea丰度低于HT组,而Streptococcus的丰度高于HT组(均P<0.05)。结论 Graves病患者、桥本甲状腺炎患者的肠道菌群与健康人群有显著差异,促进脂肪累积与能量吸收的菌群在Graves病患者中降低,而条件致病菌在自身免疫性甲状腺疾病患者中丰度增加,这些菌种变化可能通过破坏肠道稳态,干预免疫调节,促进炎症反应介导自身免疫性甲状腺疾病的发病。严格厌氧梭状芽胞杆菌1、Odoribacter、Phocea、链球菌属可能是Graves病和桥本甲状腺炎的关键差异菌属,但还需要进一步的研究以明确这些菌株介导疾病的机制。     

甲流患儿鼻咽部及口咽部的菌群分析

目的比较甲流(IA)患儿鼻咽部及口咽部菌群与健康儿童的差异,分析甲型流感病毒(IAV)感染后可能对儿童鼻咽部及口咽部菌群的影响。方法选取我院120例甲流患儿作为病例组,120例年龄性别相近的健康儿童作为健康组,采用高通量测序技术,对采集的所有鼻咽部及口咽部标本行16S rDNA基因测序分析,比较两组儿童间的菌群多样性及在门、属水平上菌群结构的差异。结果病例组鼻咽部及口咽部的菌群多样性均高于对照组(Ps0.05)。在门水平上,两组儿童鼻咽部及口咽部的第一优势菌门均为厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)(Ps0.05),病例组鼻咽部的变形菌门(Proteobacteria)相对丰度显著高于健康组(Ps0.05);在鼻咽部菌属水平上,病例组中正常优势菌莫拉氏菌属(Moraxella)、棒状菌属(Corynebacterium)、狡诈菌属(Dolosigranulum)、普氏菌属(Prevotella)等的相对丰度显著减少(Ps0.05),而链球菌属(Streptococcus)、嗜血杆菌属(Haemophilus)、盐单胞菌属(Halomonas)、不动杆菌属(Acinetobacter)、罗尔斯通菌属(Ralstonia)等的相对丰度显著增加(Ps0.05),叶杆菌属(Phyllobacterium)仅见于病例组;在口咽部菌属水平上,病例组菌群相对减少的有奈瑟菌属(Neisseria)、乳杆菌属(Lactobacillus)等,而葡萄球菌属(Staphylococcus)、奇异菌属(Atopobium)、放线菌属(Actinomyces)等的相对丰度显著增加(Ps0.05)。结论通过对甲流患儿进行上呼吸道菌群分析,揭示了甲流患儿鼻咽部及口咽部菌群的失调,这提示我们可从微生态角度研究甲流,从而进一步了解甲流的发病机制,为减少甲流严重并发症及病死率提供可能的理论依据。     

湿疹患儿肠道菌群高通量测序初步探索

目的为了解湿疹患儿肠道菌群的结构与湿疹之间的关系,通过对湿疹患儿和健康儿童粪便样本细菌总DNA提取,利用高通量测序技术,比较健康儿童和湿疹患儿肠道菌群的异同。方法 10例年龄在2个月~2岁婴幼儿由皮肤科门诊确诊为湿疹伴有过敏性疾病家族史作为研究对象,年龄和性别相当健康儿童10例作为对照,分别收集其粪便标本并提取所有样本中细菌的总DNA,对16SrRNA基因进行高通量测序,获得两组的肠道菌群结构数据并进行菌群差异性分析。结果通过Roche 454高通量测序,两组肠道微生物菌群多样性指数比较差异无统计学意义。两组主要由Firmicutes(厚壁菌门)、Bacteroidetes(拟杆菌门)、Proteobacteria(变形菌门)和Actinobacteria(放线菌门)4个门组成;两组在门水平上进行菌群结构比较,差异无统计学意义。两组样本在属水平上共获得200个不同属的细菌,其中Bacillus(芽孢杆菌属)、Bilophila(噬胆菌属)、Christensenella(纺锤状细菌属)、Coprobacillus、Eikenella(艾肯菌属)、Enterobacter(肠杆菌属)、Eubacterium(真杆菌属)、Lactococcus(乳球菌属)、Megamonas(巨单胞菌属)、Leuconostoc(明串珠菌属)、Morganella(摩根菌属)、Rhizobacter(根杆菌属)、Proteus(变形菌属)、Sutterella(萨特菌属)、Veillonella(韦荣球菌属)、Akkermansia、Anaeroglobus、Anaerotruncus、Butyricicoccus、Epulopiscium、Gordonibacter、Lachnospiraceae uncultured、Robinsoniella和Varibaculum共24个属在两组间差异具有统计学意义。结论湿疹患儿肠道菌群与健康儿童相比,菌群多样性指数(Shannon指数和Simpson指数)未见明显差异,但在菌群结构上发生了一些变化,某些特别的细菌菌属存在显著性差异。     

Variations in the respiratory microbiota amongst asthmatic and non-asthmatic subjects in Jordan

In this work, variation in microbiota in the lower respiratory tract (LRT) among asthmatic and non-asthmatic subjects is identified. All participants (27 asthmatic patients and 27 non-asthmatic subjects) were asked to expectorate a sputum sample in special sterile tubes after rinsing the mouth with a sterilizing solution. The expectorated sputum specimen was immediately homogenized and stored in the deep freezer for DNA extraction for microbial gene sequencing and sequence analyses. For sequencing the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced using Illumina MiSeq, followed by an analysis of alpha and beta diversity. It was found that asthmatic patients had greater bacterial diversity than non-asthmatic subjects. Bacteria associated to the phyla (Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes) accounted for 90 % of all sequences. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria in the asthmatic patients was higher than that of non-asthmatic (30 % vs 17 %; P-value = 0.044), along with a high abundance of the pathogen Haemophilus influenza. In contrast, Firmicutes (41 %) and Bacteroidetes (31 %) showed higher relative abundances in the non-asthmatic subjects. No significant link was found between the type of asthma drug or the method of drug usage (orally or via inhalation) and the respiratory microbiota. Therefore, the variations in LRS microbiota are not caused by the drugs taken by the asthmatic patients, rather they might be connected to the etiology of asthma. Since the asthmatic patients had higher proportions of Haemophilus influenzae, these organisms could be a causative factor in the pathophysiology of asthma.     

Microbial contributions to bronchial asthma occurrence in children: A metagenomic study

Bronchial asthma, a common chronic respiratory disease in children, is traditionally regarded as a noninfectious disease. Current hypotheses, however, argue that asthma can be caused by microbial infection. We, therefore, hypothesize that a variety of microbes are more commonly found in the sputum of children with asthma, and these microbes may contribute to the occurrence and development of asthma. The present study proposes to use metagenomic approach to explore microbial diversity and to identify the microbial community characteristics of sputum from children with asthma. We found that microbial communities in the sputum of children differed significantly between asthmatics and controls. Kruskal-Wallis testing showed that 16 phyla, 104 genera, and 159 species were significantly downregulated, whereas two phyla including Platyhelminthes phylum and Chordata phylum, two genera including Spirometra genus and Homo sapiens, and the Spirometra erinaceieuropaei species were significantly upregulated in asthma patients compared with controls (P < 0.05). Among them, H. sapiens and S. erinaceieuropaei exhibited 2.3- and 2.0-fold overabundance in asthmatics vs controls, respectively. Meanwhile, metastats assay demonstrated that 31 phyla, 400 genera, and 813 species were significantly downregulated, whereas two phyla, 10 genera, and 16 species were significantly upregulated in asthma patients compared with controls (P < 0.05). Among them, Tetrahymena thermophila and Candidatus Zinderia insecticola exhibited 4.7-fold overabundance in asthmatics vs controls. Our study establishes a link between microbial infection and the mechanisms leading to asthma development, which will be useful for developing novel diagnostic biomarkers and aiding in the prevention and control of asthma.     

光唇鱼仔稚幼鱼肠道菌群与养殖水体细菌群落的相关性

采用16S rRNA高通量测序,系统研究了光唇鱼(Acrossocheilus fasciatus)仔鱼、稚鱼和幼鱼肠道菌群组成及与同时期养殖水体细菌群落的相关性。研究结果表明,光唇鱼仔鱼、稚鱼和幼鱼的肠道菌群中Chao1指数和Shannon指数均没有显著变化(P>0.05);而随着光唇鱼幼体的发育,养殖水体中Chao1指数和Shannon指数呈现显著下降趋势(P<0.05)。光唇鱼仔鱼和稚鱼肠道菌群中的优势菌门由变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes)和厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)组成,而同时期养殖水体中优势菌门为变形菌门;光唇鱼幼鱼肠道菌群中的优势菌门为梭杆菌门(Fusobacteria)和变形菌门,同时期养殖水体中优势菌门由变形菌门、拟杆菌门和梭杆菌门组成。线性回归分析结果显示,随光唇鱼幼体发育,在光唇鱼肠道菌群中变形菌门、厚壁菌门和梭杆菌门相对丰度的时序变化趋势与其在养殖水体中相同。在属水平上,光唇鱼仔鱼、稚鱼肠道菌群中优势菌属均为醋酸杆菌属(Acetobacter),而幼鱼肠道菌群中优势菌属为鲸杆菌属(Cetobacte...     

腹泻柴达木马亚成体粪便微生物多样性分析及其生物标记物的筛选

为比较青藏高原柴达木马亚成体腹泻与健康个体粪便微生物群落多样性和结构组成的差异, 我们利用16S rRNA测序技术对采集的腹泻 (n = 3) 和健康 (n = 13) 个体粪便样本细菌的组成与分布进行分析比较,并利用实时荧光定量PCR测定相关菌属的含量。结果显示,无论健康还是腹泻,厚壁菌门、拟杆菌门、疣微菌门、变形杆菌门和螺旋体门是柴达木马亚成体粪便中的优势菌门。相比健康组,腹泻组粪便微生物的Alpha多样性显著下降 (P < 0.05),厚壁菌门相对丰度下降而变形杆菌门的相对丰度显著增加 (P < 0.05),推断这两个门中的梭菌属、普雷沃菌属、纤杆菌属等丰度的失衡可能是导致柴达木马腹泻的原因之一。此外,通过机器学习的随机森林算法筛选出12个对健康和腹泻柴达木马亚成体粪便微生物差异具有较大影响的特征菌属,包括甲烷短杆菌属、纤杆菌属、Paludibacter、肉食杆菌属和迷踪菌属等。研究揭示了健康和腹泻柴达木马亚成体粪便微生物组的变化,为进一步研究青藏高原地区家畜腹泻提供一定的数据支持。     

Impact of Pelvic Radiotherapy on Gut Microbiota of Gynecological Cancer Patients Revealed by Massive Pyrosequencing

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.     

Variability and diversity of nasopharyngeal microbiota in children: a metagenomic analysis

The nasopharynx is the ecological niche for many commensal bacteria and for potential respiratory or invasive pathogens like Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis. Disturbance of a balanced nasopharyngeal (NP) microbiome might be involved in the onset of symptomatic infections with these pathogens, which occurs primarily in fall and winter. It is unknown whether seasonal infection patterns are associated with concomitant changes in NP microbiota. As young children are generally prone to respiratory and invasive infections, we characterized the NP microbiota of 96 healthy children by barcoded pyrosequencing of the V5-V6 hypervariable region of the 16S-rRNA gene, and compared microbiota composition between children sampled in winter/fall with children sampled in spring. The approximately 1,000,000 sequences generated represented 13 taxonomic phyla and approximately 250 species-level phyla types (OTUs). The 5 most predominant phyla were Proteobacteria (64%), Firmicutes (21%), Bacteroidetes (11%), Actinobacteria (3%) and Fusobacteria (1,4%) with Moraxella, Haemophilus, Streptococcus, Flavobacteria, Dolosigranulum, Corynebacterium and Neisseria as predominant genera. The inter-individual variability was that high that on OTU level a core microbiome could not be defined. Microbiota profiles varied strongly with season, with in fall/winter a predominance of Proteobacteria (relative abundance (% of all sequences): 75% versus 51% in spring) and Fusobacteria (absolute abundance (% of children): 14% versus 2% in spring), and in spring a predominance of Bacteroidetes (relative abundance: 19% versus 3% in fall/winter, absolute abundance: 91% versus 54% in fall/winter), and Firmicutes. The latter increase is mainly due to (Brevi)bacillus and Lactobacillus species (absolute abundance: 96% versus 10% in fall/winter) which are like Bacteroidetes species generally related to healthy ecosystems. The observed seasonal effects could not be attributed to recent antibiotics or viral co-infection.The NP microbiota of young children is highly diverse and appears different between seasons. These differences seem independent of antibiotic use or viral co-infection.     

Airway Microbiota in Severe Asthma and Relationship to Asthma Severity and Phenotypes

BackgroundThe lower airways harbor a community of bacterial species which is altered in asthma.ObjectivesWe examined whether the lower airway microbiota were related to measures of asthma severity.MethodsWe prospectively recruited 26 severe asthma, 18 non-severe asthma and 12 healthy subjects. DNA was extracted from induced sputum and PCR amplification of the V3-V5 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene was performed.ResultsWe obtained 138,218 high quality sequences which were rarefied at 133 sequences/sample. Twenty OTUs had sequences ≥1% of total. There were marked differences in the distribution of Phyla between groups (P = 2.8x10^-118). Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria were reduced in non-severe and severe asthmatic groups. Proteobacteria were more common in non-severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.26; 95% CI = 1.94–2.64) and Firmicutes were increased in severe asthmatics compared to controls (OR = 2.15; 95%CI = 1.89–2.45). Streptococcal OTUs amongst the Firmicutes were associated with recent onset asthma, rhinosinusitis and sputum eosinophilia.ConclusionsSputum microbiota in severe asthma differs from healthy controls and non-severe asthmatics, and is characterized by the presence of Streptococcus spp with eosinophilia. Whether these organisms are causative for the pathophysiology of asthma remains to be determined.     

Bacterial community composition of the gut microbiota of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cylindroiulus fulviceps</Emphasis> (diplopoda) as revealed by molecular fingerprinting and cloning

Bacterial clone libraries of the gut microbiota of nurtured and starved Cylindroiulus fulviceps specimens displayed the predominance of the phyla Bacteroidetes (55 and 37 %, respectively) and Proteobacteria (40 and 35 %, respectively) and a high similarity to bacteria previously detected in the intestinal tract of termites and beetles, which are known to harbor symbiotic bacteria essential for digestive activity. Bacterial isolates were dominated by Proteobacteria (74 %), followed by members of the phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. PCR-DGGE fingerprints of the gut samples showed that intestinal bacteria were affected by starvation, although the change was not significant.     

Altered Fecal Microbiota Composition Associated with Food Allergy in Infants

Increasing evidence suggests that perturbations in the intestinal microbiota composition of infants are implicated in the pathogenesis of food allergy (FA), while the actual structure and composition of the intestinal microbiota in human beings with FA remain unclear. Microbial diversity and composition were analyzed with parallel barcoded 454 pyrosequencing targeting the 16S rRNA gene hypervariable V1-V3 regions in the feces of 34 infants with FA (17 IgE mediated and 17 non-IgE mediated) and 45 healthy controls. Here, we showed that several key FA-associated bacterial phylotypes, but not the overall microbiota diversity, significantly changed in infancy fecal microbiota with FA and were associated with the development of FA. The proportion of abundant Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria phyla were significantly reduced, while the Firmicutes phylum was highly enriched in the FA group (P < 0.05). Abundant Clostridiaceae 1 organisms were prevalent in infants with FA at the family level (P = 0.016). FA-enriched phylotypes negatively correlated with interleukin-10, for example, the genera Enterococcus and Staphylococcus. Despite profound interindividual variability, levels of 20 predominant genera were significantly different between the FA and healthy control groups (P < 0.05). Infants with IgE-mediated FA had increased levels of Clostridium sensu stricto and Anaerobacter and decreased levels of Bacteroides and Clostridium XVIII (P < 0.05). A positive correlation was observed between Clostridium sensu stricto and serum-specific IgE (R = 0.655, P < 0.001). The specific microbiota signature could distinguish infants with IgE-mediated FA from non-IgE-mediated ones. Detailed microbiota analysis of a well-characterized cohort of infants with FA showed that dysbiosis of fecal microbiota with several FA-associated key phylotypes may play a pathogenic role in FA.     

Captive environment influences the composition and diversity of fecal microbiota in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins,Tursiops aduncus

Captive environments impact the microbiota of captive animals; however, the comparison of microbiota between wild and captive dolphins has been poorly investigated. To explore the impact of a captive environment, we characterized the fecal microbiota of nine wild and four captive Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus, using a next-generation sequencing and revealed differences in the fecal microbiota between the analyzed groups. Statistical differences in abundances of the phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were found between the wild and captive dolphins. Thirty-six genera (22.9% of the total genera detected in all dolphins) were shared between the groups, whereas 79 (50.3%) and 42 (26.8%) genera were found only in the wild or captive dolphins, respectively. Several pathogenic bacterial genera, including Morganella and Mycoplasma, were detected only in the captive dolphins, and the genus Lactobacillus was found only in the wild dolphins. LefSe and SIMPER analyses revealed that the genus Clostridium sensu stricto 1 was significantly more abundant in the captive dolphins than in the wild ones and contributed the most to the dissimilarity of fecal microbiota between the groups. Our results indicate that the captive environment impacts the fecal microbiota of dolphins and reinforces the importance of monitoring potentially pathogenic bacteria in captivity.