Bacteriophages in Gut Microbiome Interactions in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Differences by Sex and The Disease Type

Abstract

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), known as the disease of the century, is a complex condition that affects millions of people worldwide. IBD is influenced by numerous factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and the gut microbial community, yet the role of microorganisms in driving and controlling the disease remains poorly understood. As we know, preceding studies have mainly focused on assessing gut bacteria and less on bacteriophages or fungi, and no study on interactions of the gut microbial community in patients with IBD has looked at bacteriophages in addition to bacteria and fungi by sex. No distinct microbial regulatory candidate has been proposed so far.Results: Here, metagenomic data were obtained from 456 stool samples of 84 white race volunteers (40 females and 44 males) with no treatment history before sampling. Participants were studied by sex and the disease type using bioinformatics methods. Differences in interactions of bacteriophages, bacteria, fungi, and archaea in the gut of males and females with Crohn's disease were remarkable, indicating the necessity for different therapies for both groups. While, little difference was seen in the gut microbiome relations in females and males with ulcerative colitis.Conclusions: The fungal strain Malassezia globose CBS 7966 beside the bacterial species Bacteroides stercorisin ulcerative colitis and Parabacteroides phage YZ-2015b in Crohn's disease were the sex-independent regulatory candidates. Uncultured crAssphage was recommended as a sex-dependent regulatory candidate for IBD in men. However, the fungus Wickerhamomycesciferrii which had proposed as regulatory candidate in Crohn's disease, was age-dependent in females. Four bacteriophages, such as Escherichia phage pro147, were suggested for study candidates in the metabolism of IBD.