Gut microbiome contributes to impairment of immunity in pulmonary tuberculosis patients by alteration of butyrate and propionate producers

Abstract

SummaryTuberculosis (TB) is primarily associated with decline in immune health status. As gut microbiome (GM) is implicated in the regulation of host immunity and metabolism, here we investigate GM alteration in TB patients by 16S rRNA gene and whole-genome shotgun sequencing. The study group constituted of patients with pulmonary TB and their healthy household contacts as controls (HCs). Significant alteration of microbial taxonomic and functional capacity was observed in patients with active TB as compared to the HCs. We observed that Prevotella and Bifidobacterium abundance were associated with HCs, whereas butyrate and propionate-producing bacteria like Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Eubacterium and Phascolarctobacterium were significantly enriched in TB patients. Functional analysis showed reduced biosynthesis of vitamins and amino acids in favour of enriched metabolism of butyrate and propionate in TB subjects. The TB subjects were also investigated during the course of treatment, to analyse the variation of GM. Although perturbation in microbial composition was still evident after a month's administration of anti-TB drugs, significant changes were observed in metagenome gene pool that pointed towards recovery in functional capacity. Therefore, the findings from this pilot study suggest that microbial dysbiosis may contribute to pathophysiology of TB by enhancing the anti-inflammatory milieu in the host.

The influence of bioregenerative life‐support system dietary structure and lifestyle on the gut microbiota: a 105‐day ground‐based space simulation in Lunar Palace 1

“…Lachnospira, Faecalibacterium and Blautia are genera of the Firmicutes phylum that are known to metabolize dietary polysaccharides (Duncan et al, 2007), the abundance of these genera increased during 105d-E compared with the pre/post experiment. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, an important butyrateproducing organism, is the most abundant bacterium in the gut of healthy adults with anti-inflammatory properties (Miquel et al, 2013;Li et al, 2016;Maji et al, 2018).…”

The role of the lung microbiota and the gut-lung axis in respiratory infectious diseases

“…These studies revealed that bacterial diversity in the gut of TB patients is altered and this may correlate with the progress of the disease (Luo et al, 2017;Maji et al, 2018). These studies revealed that bacterial diversity in the gut of TB patients is altered and this may correlate with the progress of the disease (Luo et al, 2017;Maji et al, 2018).…”

“…Gut microbiota has been analysed during the course of TB infections and also during anti-TB treatment in humans. These studies revealed that bacterial diversity in the gut of TB patients is altered and this may correlate with the progress of the disease (Luo et al, 2017;Maji et al, 2018). Anti-TB therapy includes antibiotics, such as rifampicin, that target bacteria other than mycobacteria, and one study showed that prolonged anti-TB treatment broadly alters the gut microbiota of TB patients and that the resulting dysbiotic state persists following cessation of therapy (Wipperman et al, 2017).…”

An approach to gut microbiota profile in children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Roseburia and Coprococcus genera (De Angelis et al, 2013) together with some ASDassociated bacteria such as the Clostridia class, and Bacteroides and Desulfovibrio genera (MacFabe, 2012;MacFabe, 2015) were described as capable of degrading starch and fermenting other carbohydrates to synthesize SCFA. PPA and other SCFAs are mainly produced by active microbiota fermentation of vegetable fibre and/or dietary carbohydrates in the cecum (Nankova et al, 2014;Frye et al, 2016;Rose et al, 2017;Maji et al, 2018). PPA and butyrate can act as colonocytes and mitochondrial fuels, and electrolyte absorption by colon mucosa with anti-inflammatory properties (De Angelis et al, 2013).…”