Gut microbial dysbiosis is associated with development and progression of radiation enteritis during pelvic radiotherapy

Abstract

Radiation enteritis (RE) is the most common complication of radiotherapy for pelvic irradiation receivers. Herein we investigated the alterations in gut microbial profiles and their association with enteritis in patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy. Faecal samples were collected from 18 cervical cancer patients during radiotherapy. Microbiota profiles were characterized based on 16S rRNA sequencing using the Illumina HiSeq platform. Epithelial inflammatory response was evaluated using bacterial‐epithelial co‐cultures. Dysbiosis was observed among patients with RE, which was characterized by significantly reduced α‐diversity but increased β‐diversity, relative higher abundance of Proteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria and lower abundance of Bacteroides . Coprococcus was clearly enriched prior to radiotherapy in patients who later developed RE. Metastat analysis further revealed unique grade‐related microbial features, such as more abundant Virgibacillus and Alcanivorax in patients with mild enteritis. Additionally, using bacterial‐epithelial co‐cultures, RE patient‐derived microbiota induced epithelial inflammation and barrier dysfunction, enhanced TNF‐α and IL‐1β expression compared with control microbiota. Taken together, we define the overall picture of gut microbiota in patients with RE. Our results suggest that dysbiosis of gut microbiota may contribute to development and progression of RE. Gut microbiota can offer a set of biomarkers for prediction, disease activity evaluation and treatment selection in RE.

The Butyrogenic and Lactic Bacteria of the Gut Microbiota Determine the Outcome of Allogenic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant

“…The dysbiosis was characterized by a relative higher abundance of Proteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria and lower abundance of Bacteroides. A deeper analysis found an increase in oxidative stress resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae, and Beijerinckiaceae, whereas oxidative stress sensitive Bacteroidaceae and Ruminococcaceae were decreased (Figure 3; Wang et al, 2019). It confirms previous observation from radiation-induced intestinal chronic inflammation (Kumagai et al, 2018).…”

Guiqi Baizhu Decoction Alleviates Radiation Inflammation in Rats by Modulating the Composition of the Gut Microbiota

“…We discovered a significant α -diversity declining and β -diversity changing in colon contents collected from the radiation rats. Many research shows this is a common phenomenon in multiple animal models, such as in Bactrocera dorsalis [ 35 ], in the bank vole [ 36 ], in the Gottingen minipig and rhesus macaque models [ 37 ], and in mice and human [ 6 , 7 ]. Besides, similar to the study of Casero et al [ 7 ], a significant increase was revealed in the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria and decrease was revealed in the relative abundance of Firmicutes at phylum level in the IR rats, and GQBZD could reverse the changes.…”

“…The human gut microbiota consists of trillions of microbial cells and thousands of species of bacteria. Various internal and external environmental factors of the human body, including radiation, affect the balance of gut microbiota [ 6 ]. David et al found that 16 O radiation induces multimodal responses in the mouse gut microbiome [ 7 ].…”

Immunonutrition in Cervical Cancer: Immune Response Modulation by Diet

“…There are also differential changes in microbiota abundance according to the degree of radiation enteritis (RE). In RE1 there is an abundance of Virgibacillus (p = 0.008), Alcanivorax (p = 0.010), and Phenylobacterium (p = 0.038); and in RE2, abundance of Coprococcus (p = 0.044), Collinsella (p = 0.022), and rc4_4 (p = 0.020) 69 . Patients undergoing pelvic radiotherapy showed a higher Actinobacteria abundance and significantly less abundant Fusobacteria before treatment 70 , but it changed during treatment.…”