基于16S rRNA高通量测序技术分析福州地区慢传输型便秘患者肠道菌群的变化

运用16S rRNA高通量测序技术分析福州地区慢传输型便秘(STC)患者肠道菌群变化的特征。

纳入60例STC患者和健康志愿者20例, 留取新鲜粪便样本, 冰块运送至实验室并存放于-80度冰箱, 应用16S rRNA高通量测序技术, 分析各组肠道菌群的生物多样性与结构组成。

测序后共得到1 702 004 524条有效序列, 样本序列平均有效长度为414.1 bp, 总样本平均序列条数为2 127 505.7条。与对照组比较, STC患者肠道菌群丰度指数Ace指数、Chao指数和肠道菌群多样性指数Shannon指数下降(P < 0.05), 肠道菌群多样性指数Simpson指数显著升高(P < 0.05)。在门水平上, STC组以拟杆菌门、放线菌门为主, 正常对照组以厚壁菌门为主。在属水平上, STC组以拟杆菌属(Bacteroides)、肠杆菌科(Enterobacteriaceae)、丹毒杆菌属(Erysipelatoclostridium)、巨单胞菌属(Megamonas)为主, 正常对照组以乳酸杆菌属(Lactobacillus)、双歧杆菌属(Bifidobacterium)、布劳特菌属(Blautia)为主。

STC患者肠道菌群发生紊乱, 表现为丰度及多样性下降, 菌群结构发生改变, 可能与慢传输型便秘的发生发展有关。

     

夏季老年慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者口咽菌群分析

分析夏季老年慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）患者与健康人群的口咽菌群构成,旨在确定老年COPD患者与健康人群上呼吸道菌群间的差异。

选择2018年6—8月沈阳市沈阳医学院附属第二医院COPD患者29例和健康体检者25例,采集口咽拭子进行细菌16S rRNA高通量测序。通过菌群多样性分析、物种组成和物种差异分析,比较老年COPD患者与健康人群口咽部微生物的异同。

老年COPD患者口咽中菌群丰富度显著高于健康人群,物种多样性低于健康人群。在门水平上,老年COPD患者口咽菌群中拟杆菌门相对丰度降低,放线菌门相对丰度显著增高;在属水平上,老年COPD患者口咽菌群中罗氏菌属、放线菌属和劳特罗普氏菌属丰度均显著高于健康人群,奈瑟菌属和普雷沃菌属相对丰度降低,差异均具有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。

老年COPD患者口咽部正常菌群组成发生变化,机会致病菌如罗氏菌属、劳特罗普氏菌属比例增加,提示夏季老年COPD患者口咽菌群失调。

     

原发性干燥综合征患者肠道菌群特征分析

通过比较原发性干燥综合征(pSS)患者和健康人群肠道菌群的差异, 深入探讨pSS患者肠道菌群与pSS发生发展的关系。

招募2019年1月至2021年2月于大连市中心医院风湿免疫科住院的pSS患者60名, 作为本研究的pSS组; 同时招募大连市中心医院体检中心的健康志愿者50名作为本研究的对照组(Control组)。收集两组粪便标本, 各50例, 提取细菌DNA进行16S rDNA高通量测序后进行菌群多样性和LEfSe分析。

pSS组肠道菌群α-多样性较Control组显著降低(P < 0.05)。与Control组相比, pSS组厚壁菌门/拟杆菌门比值降低; 普雷沃菌科、红蝽菌科、消化链球菌科、Eggerthellaceae, unidentified_Clostridiales丰度降低, 而拟杆菌科升高; 罗姆布茨菌属和Dorea等丰度降低, 拟杆菌属、韦荣球菌属等丰度升高。并且在pSS组肠道菌群中发现大肠埃希菌丰度明显升高。

pSS患者存在肠道菌群失调, 提示菌群失调可能与pSS的发生发展有关。

     

圈养食叶猴的肠道菌群特征

充分认识圈养食叶猴的肠道菌群组成特征, 为饲养管理方法的改进提供参考依据。

通过MiSeq高通量测序平台对3个物种的19个个体[黑叶猴(n=5)、川金丝猴(n=9)和西非黑白疣猴(n=5)]的肠道菌群16S rRNA V4-V5区进行测序和分析。

食叶猴肠道菌群以厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门为优势菌门, 瘤胃菌科、普氏菌科、理研菌科和毛螺菌科为优势菌科, 普氏菌属、密螺旋体属和瘤胃球菌属为优势菌属; 食叶猴物种间肠道菌群组成存在显著差异, 肠道菌群按照宿主物种聚类, 而不受环境因素的影响。

宿主物种是决定肠道微生物组成的重要因素, 食叶猴肠道菌群特征反映了宿主对其食性的适应。

     

不同健康状况百岁老人肠道菌群的差异性

探索广西不同健康状况百岁老人肠道菌群的特征。

采用1∶1病例对照研究方法,在广西长寿地区按年龄收集不同健康状况的21对百岁老人粪便和血样标本,同时收集个体一般信息和食物摄入信息;使用标准量表测量身体机能和认知功能（MMSE）,测定血生化指标,采用16S rRNA的V4–V5区序列进行高通量测序分析肠道菌群的差异。

非健康组百岁老人较健康组百岁老人肠道菌群丰度和多样性显著降低（t = 3.987、4.000、3.703,均P＜0.001）;健康组百岁老人肠道菌群中蓝藻菌门（Cyanobacteria）、黏胶球形菌门（Lentisphaerae）丰度显著高于非健康组,拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）丰度显著低于非健康组;健康组百岁老人肠道菌群中别样杆菌属（Alistipes）、瘤胃球菌属（Ruminococcus）、气味细菌属（Odoribacter）、厌氧菌属（Anaerotruncus）、丁酸单胞菌属（Butyricimonas）丰度显著高于非健康组;非健康组百岁老人肠道菌群中拟杆菌纲（Bacteroidia）、拟杆菌目（Bacteroidales）、拟杆菌种（Bacteroides coprophius）丰度显著高于健康组;非健康组百岁老人身体机能、MMSE评分显著降低（t = 2.775、2.058,P = 0.008、0.046）。

广西不同健康状况百岁老人肠道菌群丰度和多样性具有显著特征,健康状况良好的百岁老人可能具有更好的肠道菌群构成。

     

规定饮食条件下不同性别和年龄恒河猴的肠道菌群差异探讨

探讨规范统一的饮食在不受饮食因素干扰前提下不同性别和年龄恒河猴肠道菌群的差异。

将38只恒河猴按性别和年龄分为6组,规定饮食喂养3个月,收集粪便标本,应用16S rRNA测序和生物信息学分析探讨不同性别和年龄恒河猴肠道菌群的差异。

雄性和雌性恒河猴肠道菌群多样性无显著差异,但雌性群体中Epsilonproteobacteria和Helicobacter macacae的丰度显著增加。成年和老年恒河猴肠道菌群的多样性均显著高于幼年,Rikenellaceae、Christensenellaceae和Prevotella的丰度在老年群体中显著增加。

恒河猴的肠道菌群受性别和年龄的影响,尤其是与代谢和精神疾病相关的Rikenellaceae、Christensenellaceae和Prevotella在老龄恒河猴肠道菌群丰度更高。这些特定肠道菌群在不同性别和不同生命阶段调节机体生理或行为过程中的功能有待进一步研究。

     

不同程度颅脑疾病患者肠道菌群分析

检测不同程度颅脑疾病患者肠道菌群分布情况, 探讨患者肠道菌群分布与疾病的关系, 为该类患者的治疗提供参考。

通过MiSeq PE2x300 bp高通量测序技术对21例重度颅脑损伤患者(G1组, GCS≤8分)和14例轻度颅脑损伤患者(G2组, GCS > 8分)粪便样本中细菌的16S rRNA基因V3-V4可变区进行定性分析, 并对两组患者肠道菌群进行生物学分类比较、多样性分析和组间物种差异分析。

两组患者肠道菌群多样性差异无统计学意义(均P > 0.05)。G1组患者肠道厌氧球菌属(Anaerococcus)、埃希菌-志贺菌属(Escherichia-Shigella)、链球菌属(Streptococcus)、肠球菌属(Enterococcus)、棒状杆菌属(Corynebacterium)数量高于G2组(均P < 0.05)。

颅脑疾病患者肠道菌群紊乱, 其肠道菌群丰度及多样性显著下降, 有害菌数量升高, 有益菌数量下降。

     

摔跤运动员赛前集训控体重对肠道菌群及其代谢物的影响

探究赛前集训控体重对高水平摔跤运动员肠道菌群及代谢物的影响。

招募某省摔跤队运动员11名,在赛前集训期前后测量身体成分、收集粪便样本,采用16S rRNA基因测序技术检测肠道微生物的分布和丰度,利用非靶向代谢组学分析微生物的差异代谢产物及其所富集的功能。

摔跤运动员赛前集训后体重显著降低（P＜0.05）,但肌肉含量无显著差异。微生物组结果显示,控体重前后男女运动员肠道菌群alpha多样性和beta多样性均无显著差异。男性运动员Intestinibacter丰度显著增高（P＜0.05）,且与体重、四肢骨骼肌指数变化量呈正相关。代谢组学分析结果显示,男性运动员菌群差异代谢物富集于硫代谢和主要胆汁酸代谢相关通路,女性运动员菌群差异代谢物富集于神经活性配体—受体交互相关信号通路;Intestinibacter丰度变化与胆汁酸7alpha-hydroxy-3-oxo-4-cholestenoate变化呈正相关。

赛前集训控体重未影响摔跤运动员肠道菌群生物多样性和整体物种构成,但可以改变男性摔跤运动员肠道菌群中产丁酸盐菌属的相对丰度,整体表现为运动员肠道菌群对控体重过程较为适应。

     

妊娠期糖尿病孕妇肠道菌群变化及其与血糖的相关性——

利用16S rDNA高通量测序技术,研究妊娠期糖尿病（GDM）孕妇的肠道菌群变化及与血糖的相关性。

2020年9月—2021年3月,选取在温州市人民医院定期产前检查并分娩的孕妇44例,根据妊娠24~28周口服75 g葡萄糖耐量试验结果分为妊娠期糖尿病组（22例）及正常对照组（22例）,收集孕妇的一般资料。通过Illumina Miseq平台对受试者粪便细菌DNA进行16S rDNA测序,比较两组肠道菌群的结构、丰度及多样性。

肠道菌群ɑ−多样性分析结果显示,GDM组孕妇Chao1、Shannon、Ace、Coverage指数与正常对照组相比,差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）。两组孕妇肠道菌群的共同优势菌群为厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门,GDM组弯曲杆菌门比例高于对照组（P＜0.05）。LEfSe分析结果显示两组丰度有显著差异的物种共有28种,其中24种在GDM组中富集,4种在正常对照组中富集。通过Bray-Curtis dbRDA分析发现,肠道菌群结构与75 g OGTT 0 h血糖及75 g OGTT 1 h血糖呈负相关（P＜0.05）。采用Spearman相关性分析评估两组肠道菌群与OGTT血糖值的相关性,发现瘤胃球菌属、链球菌属、丁酸球菌属与OGTT 0 h血糖呈负相关（P＜0.05）;小杆菌属、布劳特菌属、Monoglobus与OGTT 1 h血糖呈负相关（P＜0.05）;毛螺旋菌属、普雷沃菌属与OGTT 2 h血糖呈负相关（P＜0.05）。

16S rDNA高通量测序有助于分析GDM孕妇肠道菌群的丰度及多样性,为研究GDM孕妇肠道菌群结构的特点及与血糖的相关性提供新的思路和理论依据。

     

YNS益肤面霜对豚鼠皮肤变态反应及肠道菌群的影响

建立豚鼠皮肤变态反应模型,并使用YNS益肤面霜对皮肤变态反应模型进行干预,探讨这种面霜对改善及修复受损皮肤的作用及其对豚鼠肠道菌群的影响。

豚鼠24只,随机分成4组：对照组、阳性组、化妆品组和治疗组,每组6只。致敏接触后进行激发反应。提取4组豚鼠粪便标本DNA,使用16S rRNA高通量测序检测肠道菌群构成。

治疗组豚鼠皮肤致敏率为16.7%。益肤面霜治疗对肠道菌群alpha多样性影响不大,但有降低厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）与拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）比值（F/B）及粪球菌属（Coprococcus）相对丰度的趋势,有利于皮肤变态反应豚鼠肠道菌群组成的恢复。

YNS益肤面霜对皮肤具有改善及修复作用,并对豚鼠肠道菌群具有一定影响。

     

不同生长阶段舜皇山土猪肠道微生物组成与多样性

目的 挖掘肠道微生物在舜皇山土猪耐粗饲及抗病等方面的作用,为舜皇山土猪的饲养与保护以及益生菌的开发提供理论依据.方法 采集3个生长阶段的舜皇山土猪粪便样品,各4～5组,进行16SrDNA V3-V4区基因高通量测序,分析其微生物的组成及多样性.结果 舜皇山土猪肠道微生物主要由拟杆菌门(Bacteroides)、厚壁菌门...     

Gut microbiota of invasive bullfrog tadpoles responds more rapidly to temperature than a noninvasive congener

Environmental temperature can alter the composition, diversity, and function of ectothermic vertebrate gut microbial communities, which may result in negative consequences for host physiology, or conversely, increase phenotypic plasticity and persistence in harsh conditions. The magnitude of either of these effects will depend on the length of time animals are exposed to extreme temperatures, and how quickly the composition and function of the gut microbiota can respond to temperature change. However, the temporal effects of temperature on gut microbiota are currently unknown. Here, we investigated the length of time required for increased temperature to alter the composition of gut bacterial communities in tadpoles of two frog species, the green frog, Lithobates clamitans, and its congener, the globally invasive American bullfrog, L. catesbeianus. We also explored the potential functional consequences of these changes by comparing predicted metagenomic profiles across temperature treatments at the last experimental time point. Bullfrog‐associated microbial communities were more plastic than those of the green frog. Specifically, bullfrog communities were altered by increased temperature within hours, while green frog communities took multiple days to exhibit significant changes. Further, over ten times more bullfrog bacterial functional pathways were temperature‐dependent compared to the green frog. These results support our hypothesis that bullfrog gut microbial communities would respond more rapidly to temperature change, potentially bolstering their ability to exploit novel environments. More broadly, we have revealed that even short‐term increases in environmental temperature, expected to occur frequently under global climate change, can alter the gut microbiota of ectothermic vertebrates.     

Characteristics of gut microbiota in pigs with different breeds,growth periods and genders

Gut microbiota plays important roles in host nutrition, metabolism and immunity, and is affected by multiple factors. However, the understandings of the gut microbiota in pigs within different breeds, growth periods and genders from a large cohort remain largely undefined. In the present study, the characteristics of the gut microbiota in 120 pigs of different breeds, growth periods and genders were investigated using the Illumina MiSeq PE300 combined with QIIME2 platform. A total of 7 388 636 raw reads and 16 411 features were obtained. Additionally, the microbial diversity, compositions and phenotypes were described. 66.53% microbiota belonged to the top 10 most abundant genera (pan gut bacteria), and 28 species were commonly identified (core gut bacteria, commonality ≥ 75%) among the pigs. Besides, the correlations within pan and core gut microbiota were firstly investigated. The metagenomic function was predicted by using PICRUSt2. Furthermore, the explanatory effects of the influencing factors suggested that growth period was the greatest contributor to the gut microbiota in pigs. These results expanded our knowledge of mammalian gut microbiota within different influencing factors and microbial-related biological features in swine, which contributes to improving animal production and assisting animal model research.     

土壤动物肠道微生物多样性研究进展

随着分子生物学技术方法的快速发展,动物肠道微生物已成为医学、动物生理学与微生物生态学等研究领域热点。土壤动物种类繁多,分布广泛,其作为陆地生态系统重要组分,是驱动生态系统功能的关键因子。土壤动物体内的微生物由于与宿主长期共存,在与宿主协同进化中形成了丰富多样的群落结构,能够影响土壤动物本身的健康,进而介导土壤动物生态功能的实现。近些年,土壤动物肠道微生物工作方兴未艾,日渐得到重视。总结了四个部分内容：1)首先总结了土壤动物肠道微生物多样性领域的研究现状,该领域年发文量逐年增长,且近十年增长快速。土壤模式生物肠道微生物多样性研究较多且更为深入。土壤动物肠道微生物多样性组成与驱动机制、共存机制及群落构建的理论研究是该领域前沿;2)进而展示了土壤动物肠道微生物多样性组成和研究方法,土壤动物肠道菌群组成以变形菌门、厚壁菌门、放线菌门和拟杆菌门为主。早期工作基于传统分离培养,近年来新一代测序技术推动了该领域发展;3)接着关注了土壤动物肠道微生物的生态学功能,总体上体现在肠道微生物能帮助宿主分解食物基质、参与营养利用、影响寿命和繁殖及提高宿主免疫能力,且其能够影响土壤动物的气体排放及介导其对生态系...     

The Dynamic Distribution of Porcine Microbiota across Different Ages and Gastrointestinal Tract Segments

Metagenome of gut microbes has been implicated in metabolism, immunity, and health maintenance of its host. However, in most of previous studies, the microbiota was sampled from feces instead of gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In this study, we compared the microbial populations from feces at four different developmental stages and contents of four intestinal segments at maturity to examine the dynamic shift of microbiota in pigs and investigated whether adult porcine fecal samples could be used to represent samples of the GI tract. Analysis results revealed that the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes from the feces of the older pigs (2-, 3-, 6- month) were 10 times higher compared to those from piglets (1-month). As the pigs matured, so did it seem that the composition of microbiome became more stable in feces. In adult pigs, there were significant differences in microbial profiles between the contents of the small intestine and large intestine. The dominant genera in the small intestine belonged to aerobe or facultative anaerobe categories, whereas the main genera in the large intestine were all anaerobes. Compared to the GI tract, the composition of microbiome was quite different in feces. The microbial profile in large intestine was more similar to feces than those in the small intestine, with the similarity of 0.75 and 0.38 on average, respectively. Microbial functions, predicted by metagenome profiles, showed the enrichment associated with metabolism pathway and metabolic disease in large intestine and feces while higher abundance of infectious disease, immune function disease, and cancer in small intestine. Fecal microbes also showed enriched function in metabolic pathways compared to microbes from pooled gut contents. Our study extended the understanding of dynamic shift of gut microbes during pig growth and also characterized the profiles of bacterial communities across GI tracts of mature pigs.     

Exploring the gut microbiota composition of Indian major carp,rohu (Labeo rohita), under diverse culture conditions

Gut microbiota of freshwater carps are often investigated for their roles in nutrient absorption, enzyme activities and probiotic properties. However, little is known about core microbiota, assembly pattern and the environmental influence on the gut microbiota of the Indian major carp, rohu. The gut microbial composition of rohu reared in different culture conditions was analysed by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. There was variation on gut microbial diversity and composition. A significant negative correlation between dissolved oxygen content (DO) and alpha diversity was observed, thus signifying DO content as one of the key environmental factors that regulated the diversity of rohu gut microbial community. A significant positive correlation was observed between phosphate concentration and abundance of Actinobacteria in different culture conditions. Two phyla, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria along with OTU750868 (Streptomyces) showed significant (p < 0.05) differences in their abundance among all culture conditions. The Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination (NMDS) analysis using Bray-Curtis distances, showed the presence of unique gut microbiota in rohu compared to other herbivorous fish. Based on niche breadth, 3 OTUs were identified as core generalists, persistent across all the culture conditions whereas the specialists dominated in the rohu gut microbiota assembly. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed positive interaction within core members while mutual exclusion between core and non-core members. Predicted microbiota function revealed that different culture conditions affected the metabolic capacity of gut microbiota of rohu. The results overall indicated the significant effect of different rearing environments on gut microbiota structure, assembly and inferred community function of rohu which might be useful for effective manipulation of gut microbial communities of rohu to promote better health and growth under different husbandry settings.     

Impact of feed restriction on health,digestion and faecal microbiota of growing pigs housed in good or poor hygiene conditions

Feed restriction could be a relevant strategy to preserve gut health, reduce systemic inflammatory response and finally limit antibiotic use. This study assessed the effect of feed restriction on growing pigs submitted to a moderate inflammatory challenge induced by the degradation of the environmental hygiene that is known to alter growth rate. The experiment was run on 80 pigs selected at 7 weeks of age according to a 2×2 factorial design: two feeding levels, ad libitum (AL) and feed restricted (FR) at 60% of AL, and two conditions of environmental hygiene, clean and dirty. Pigs were housed individually throughout the experiment. From 61 to 68 days of age (day 0 to 7), pigs were housed in a post weaning unit and feed restriction was applied to half of the pigs from day 0 to day 29. At 68 days of age (day 7 of the experiment), pigs were transferred in a growing unit where half of FR and half of AL pigs were housed in a dirty environment (poor hygiene) and the other half in a clean environment (good hygiene) until day 42. Growth performance was recorded weekly. Blood and faeces samples were collected to measure indicators of inflammation, nutrient digestibility and microbiota composition. Faecal consistency was monitored daily to detect diarrhoeas. Feed restriction decreased daily weight gain (−35% to −50%, P<0.001), increased the feed conversion ratio (+15%, P<0.001) and CP digestibility (+3%, P<0.05) and reduced the occurrence of diarrhoeas irrespective of hygiene conditions. Poor hygiene conditions decreased growth performance (−20%, P<0.05) and total tract digestibility of all nutrients (P<0.001). Haptoglobin (+50%) concentrations and lymphocyte (+10%) and granulocyte (+40%) numbers were higher in poor hygiene conditions (P<0.05), confirming that the model was effective to induce a systemic inflammatory response. Both feed restriction and hygiene modified the profile of the faecal microbiota. In this study, feed restriction did not reduce the systemic inflammatory response caused by poor hygiene conditions despite the limitation of the occurrence of digestive disorders. However, our study opens discussions regarding the impact of hygiene and feed restriction on gut microbial communities and digestive health.     

Intestinal microbiota in fishes: what's known and what's not

High‐throughput sequencing approaches have enabled characterizations of the community composition of numerous gut microbial communities, which in turn has enhanced interest in their diversity and functional relationships in different groups of vertebrates. Although fishes represent the greatest taxonomic and ecological diversity of vertebrates, our understanding of their gut microbiota and its functional significance has lagged well behind that of terrestrial vertebrates. In order to highlight emerging issues, we provide an overview of research on fish gut microbiotas and the biology of their hosts. We conclude that microbial community composition must be viewed within an informed context of host ecology and physiology, and that this is of particular importance with respect to research planning and sampling design.     

Transient effect of single or repeated acute deoxynivalenol and zearalenone dietary challenge on fecal microbiota composition in female finishing pigs

Mycotoxins are a major contaminant of pig feed and have negative effects on health and performance. The present study investigated the impact of single or repeated acute challenges with a diet naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON) and zearalenone (ZEN) on growth performances of finishing pigs and their fecal microbiota composition. A total of 160 pigs (castrated males and females) in two successive batches were randomly divided into four experimental groups of 40 pigs each. The control group received a control finisher diet from 99 to 154 days of age. Challenged groups were subjected to a 7-day acute challenge by being fed a DON- and ZEN-contaminated diet (3.02 mg DON/kg feed and 0.76 mg ZEN/kg feed) at 113 days (group DC), 134 days (group CD) or both 113 and 134 days (group DD). Microbiota composition was analyzed via 16S rRNA sequencing from fecal samples collected from the 80 females at 99, 119, 140 and 154 days. Challenged pigs (i.e. groups DC, CD and DD) reduced their average daily feed intake by 25% and 27% (P < 0.001) and feed efficiency by 34% and 28% (P < 0.05) during the first and second mycotoxin exposure, respectively. Microbiota composition was affected by mycotoxin exposure (P = 0.07 during the first exposure and P = 0.01 during the second exposure). At the family level, mycotoxin exposure significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the relative abundances of Ruminococcaceae, Streptococcaceae and Veillonellaceae and increased that of Erysipelotrichaceae at both 119 and 140 days of age. After the 7-day DON/ZEN challenge, the relative abundance of 6 to 148 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) differed among the treatment groups. However, none of these OTUs changed in all treatment groups. Using 27 functional pathways, pigs exposed to DON/ZEN challenges could be distinguished from control pigs using sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis, with a 15% misclassification rate. Regarding the functionality of these predictors, two pathways were involved in detoxifying mycotoxins: drug metabolism and xenobiotic metabolism by cytochrome P450. In challenged pigs, microbiota composition returned to the initial state within 3 weeks after the end of a single or repeated DON/ZEN challenge, highlighting the resilience of the gut microbiome. The feeding and growth performances of the pigs during challenge periods were significantly correlated with biological pathways related to health problems and modifications in host metabolism. To conclude, short-term DON/ZEN challenges resulted in transient modifications in the composition and functions of fecal microbiota.     

Distinct composition and metabolic functions of human gut microbiota are associated with cachexia in lung cancer patients

Cachexia is associated with decreased survival in cancer patients and has a prevalence of up to 80%. The etiology of cachexia is poorly understood, and limited treatment options exist. Here, we investigated the role of the human gut microbiome in cachexia by integrating shotgun metagenomics and plasma metabolomics of 31 lung cancer patients. The cachexia group showed significant differences in the gut microbial composition, functional pathways of the metagenome, and the related plasma metabolites compared to non-cachectic patients. Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), methylhistamine, and vitamins were significantly depleted in the plasma of cachexia patients, which was also reflected in the depletion of relevant gut microbiota functional pathways. The enrichment of BCAAs and 3-oxocholic acid in non-cachectic patients were positively correlated with gut microbial species Prevotella copri and Lactobacillus gasseri, respectively. Furthermore, the gut microbiota capacity for lipopolysaccharides biosynthesis was significantly enriched in cachectic patients. The involvement of the gut microbiome in cachexia was further observed in a high-performance machine learning model using solely gut microbial features. Our study demonstrates the links between cachectic host metabolism and specific gut microbial species and functions in a clinical setting, suggesting that the gut microbiota could have an influence on cachexia with possible therapeutic applications.Subject terms: Microbiome, Metagenomics, Next-generation sequencing, Metabolomics