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Cui LY, Liu BY, Li HM, Zhu YX, Zhou YH, Su C, Tian YP, Xu HT, Liu D, Li XP, Ma Y, Jiang GS, Liu H, Yang SH, Lan TM, Xu YC. A simple and effective method to enrich endogenous DNA from mammalian faeces. Mol Ecol Resour 2024; 24:e13939. [PMID: 38372463 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Utilization of faeces has long been a popular approach for genetic and ecological studies of wildlife. However, the success of molecular marker genotyping and genome resequencing is often unpredictable due to insufficient enrichment of endogenous DNA in the total faecal DNA that is dominated by bacterial DNA. Here, we report a simple and cheap method named PEERS to predominantly lyse animal cells over bacteria by using sodium dodecyl sulphate so as to discharge endogenous DNA into liquid phase before bacterial DNA. By brief centrifugation, total DNA with enriched endogenous fraction can be extracted from the supernatant using routine methods. Our assessments showed that the endogenous DNA extracted by PEERS was significantly enriched for various types of faeces from different species, preservation time and conditions. It significantly improves the genotyping correctness and efficiency of genome resequencing with the total additional cost of $ 0.1 and a short incubation step to treat a faecal sample. We also provide methods to assess the enrichment efficiency of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA and models to predict the usability of faecal DNA for genotyping of short tandem repeat, single-nucleotide polymorphism and whole-genome resequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liang Yu Cui
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, Harbin, China
| | - Bo Yang Liu
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, Harbin, China
| | - Hai Meng Li
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yi Xin Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yong Heng Zhou
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, Harbin, China
| | - Chang Su
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, Harbin, China
| | - Yin Ping Tian
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, Harbin, China
| | - Hai Tao Xu
- Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park, Harbin, China
| | - Dan Liu
- Heilongjiang Siberian Tiger Park, Harbin, China
| | - Xiao Ping Li
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Yue Ma
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Guang Shun Jiang
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Feline Research Center, Harbin, China
| | - Huan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Shu Hui Yang
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Tian Ming Lan
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
| | - Yan Chun Xu
- College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Research Center of Engineering Technology for Wildlife Conservation and Utilization, Harbin, China
- BGI Life Science Joint Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
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Royer C, Patin NV, Jesser KJ, Peña-Gonzalez A, Hatt JK, Trueba G, Levy K, Konstantinidis KT. Comparison of metagenomic and traditional methods for diagnosis of E. coli enteric infections. mBio 2024; 15:e0342223. [PMID: 38488359 PMCID: PMC11005377 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03422-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, collectively known as DEC, is a leading cause of diarrhea, particularly in children in low- and middle-income countries. Diagnosing infections caused by different DEC pathotypes traditionally relies on the cultivation and identification of virulence genes, a resource-intensive and error-prone process. Here, we compared culture-based DEC identification with shotgun metagenomic sequencing of whole stool using 35 randomly drawn samples from a cohort of diarrhea-afflicted patients. Metagenomic sequencing detected the cultured isolates in 97% of samples, revealing, overall, reliable detection by this approach. Genome binning yielded high-quality E. coli metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) for 13 samples, and we observed that the MAG did not carry the diagnostic DEC virulence genes of the corresponding isolate in 60% of these samples. Specifically, two distinct scenarios were observed: diffusely adherent E. coli (DAEC) isolates without corresponding DAEC MAGs appeared to be relatively rare members of the microbiome, which was further corroborated by quantitative PCR (qPCR), and thus unlikely to represent the etiological agent in 3 of the 13 samples (~23%). In contrast, ETEC virulence genes were located on plasmids and largely escaped binning in associated MAGs despite being prevalent in the sample (5/13 samples or ~38%), revealing limitations of the metagenomic approach. These results provide important insights for diagnosing DEC infections and demonstrate how metagenomic methods can complement isolation efforts and PCR for pathogen identification and population abundance. IMPORTANCE Diagnosing enteric infections based on traditional methods involving isolation and PCR can be erroneous due to isolation and other biases, e.g., the most abundant pathogen may not be recovered on isolation media. By employing shotgun metagenomics together with traditional methods on the same stool samples, we show that mixed infections caused by multiple pathogens are much more frequent than traditional methods indicate in the case of acute diarrhea. Further, in at least 8.5% of the total samples examined, the metagenomic approach reliably identified a different pathogen than the traditional approach. Therefore, our results provide a methodology to complement existing methods for enteric infection diagnostics with cutting-edge, culture-independent metagenomic techniques, and highlight the strengths and limitations of each approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. Royer
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - N. V. Patin
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - K. J. Jesser
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - A. Peña-Gonzalez
- Max Planck Tandem Group in Computational Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotà, Colombia
| | - J. K. Hatt
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - G. Trueba
- Institute of Microbiology, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
| | - K. Levy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - K. T. Konstantinidis
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Obermüller B, Singer G, Kienesberger B, Mittl B, Stadlbauer V, Horvath A, Miekisch W, Fuchs P, Schweiger M, Pajed L, Till H, Castellani C. Probiotic OMNi-BiOTiC ® 10 AAD Reduces Cyclophosphamide-Induced Inflammation and Adipose Tissue Wasting in Mice. Nutrients 2023; 15:3655. [PMID: 37630845 PMCID: PMC10458463 DOI: 10.3390/nu15163655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Cancer therapy is often associated with severe side effects such as drug induced weight loss, also known as chemotherapy-induced cachexia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a multispecies probiotic (OMNi-BiOTiC® 10 AAD) in a chemotherapy mouse model. A total of 24 male BALB/c mice were gavage-fed with the probiotic formulation or water, once a day for 3 weeks. In the third week, the mice received intraperitoneal cyclophosphamide. At euthanasia, the organs were dissected, and serum was sampled for cytokine analysis. Tight junction components, myosin light chain kinase, mucins, and apoptosis markers were detected in the ileum and colon using histological analyses and qRT-PCR. Lipolysis was analyzed by enzymatic activity assay, Western blotting analyses, and qRT-PCR in WAT. The fecal microbiome was measured with 16S-rRNA gene sequencing from stool samples, and fecal volatile organic compounds analysis was performed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The probiotic-fed mice exhibited significantly less body weight loss and adipose tissue wasting associated with a reduced CGI58 mediated lipolysis. They showed significantly fewer pro-inflammatory cytokines and lower gut permeability compared to animals fed without the probiotic. The colons of the probiotic-fed animals showed lower inflammation scores and less goblet cell loss. qRT-PCR revealed no differences in regards to tight junction components, mucins, or apoptosis markers. No differences in microbiome alpha diversity, but differences in beta diversity, were observed between the treatment groups. Taxonomic analysis showed that the probiotic group had a lower relative abundance of Odoribacter and Ruminococcus-UCG014 and a higher abundance of Desulfovibrio. VOC analysis yielded no significant differences. The results of this study indicate that oral administration of the multispecies probiotic OMNi-BiOTiC® 10 AAD could mitigate cyclophosphamide-induced chemotherapy side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beate Obermüller
- Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; (B.O.); (B.K.); (B.M.); (H.T.); (C.C.)
| | - Georg Singer
- Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; (B.O.); (B.K.); (B.M.); (H.T.); (C.C.)
| | - Bernhard Kienesberger
- Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; (B.O.); (B.K.); (B.M.); (H.T.); (C.C.)
- Department of Paediatric Surgery, Clinical Center of Klagenfurt, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria
| | - Barbara Mittl
- Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; (B.O.); (B.K.); (B.M.); (H.T.); (C.C.)
| | - Vanessa Stadlbauer
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria;
- Center of Biomarker Research (CBmed), 8010 Graz, Austria;
| | - Angela Horvath
- Center of Biomarker Research (CBmed), 8010 Graz, Austria;
| | - Wolfram Miekisch
- Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care & Pain Therapy, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany; (W.M.); (P.F.)
| | - Patricia Fuchs
- Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care & Pain Therapy, Rostock University Medical Center, 18057 Rostock, Germany; (W.M.); (P.F.)
| | - Martina Schweiger
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, BioTechMed-Graz, BioHealth-Graz, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (M.S.); (L.P.)
| | - Laura Pajed
- Institute of Molecular Biosciences, BioTechMed-Graz, BioHealth-Graz, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria; (M.S.); (L.P.)
| | - Holger Till
- Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; (B.O.); (B.K.); (B.M.); (H.T.); (C.C.)
| | - Christoph Castellani
- Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, Austria; (B.O.); (B.K.); (B.M.); (H.T.); (C.C.)
- Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Weiz District Hospital, 8160 Weiz, Austria
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Metagenomic Analysis of Common Intestinal Diseases Reveals Relationships among Microbial Signatures and Powers Multidisease Diagnostic Models. mSystems 2021; 6:6/3/e00112-21. [PMID: 33947803 PMCID: PMC8269207 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00112-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Common intestinal diseases such as Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), and colorectal cancer (CRC) share clinical symptoms and altered gut microbes, necessitating cross-disease comparisons and the use of multidisease models. Here, we performed meta-analyses on 13 fecal metagenome data sets of the three diseases. We identified 87 species and 65 pathway markers that were consistently changed in multiple data sets of the same diseases. According to their overall trends, we grouped the disease-enriched marker species into disease-specific and disease-common clusters and revealed their distinct phylogenetic relationships; species in the CD-specific cluster were phylogenetically related, while those in the CRC-specific cluster were more distant. Strikingly, UC-specific species were phylogenetically closer to CRC, likely because UC patients have higher risk of CRC. Consistent with their phylogenetic relationships, marker species had similar within-cluster and different between-cluster metabolic preferences. A portion of marker species and pathways correlated with an indicator of leaky gut, suggesting a link between gut dysbiosis and human-derived contents. Marker species showed more coordinated changes and tighter inner-connections in cases than the controls, suggesting that the diseased gut may represent a stressed environment and pose stronger selection on gut microbes. With the marker species and pathways, we constructed four high-performance (including multidisease) models with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.87 and true-positive rates up to 90%, and explained their putative clinical applications. We identified consistent microbial alterations in common intestinal diseases, revealed metabolic capacities and the relationships among marker bacteria in distinct states, and supported the feasibility of metagenome-derived multidisease diagnosis. IMPORTANCE Gut microbes have been identified as potential markers in distinguishing patients from controls in colorectal cancer, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease individually, whereas there lacks a systematic analysis to investigate the exclusive microbial shifts of these enteropathies with similar clinical symptoms. Our meta-analysis and cross-disease comparisons identified consistent microbial alterations in each enteropathy, revealed microbial ecosystems among marker bacteria in distinct states, and demonstrated the necessity and feasibility of metagenome-based multidisease classifications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to construct multiclass models for these common intestinal diseases.
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Circulating Free DNA and Its Emerging Role in Autoimmune Diseases. J Pers Med 2021; 11:jpm11020151. [PMID: 33672659 PMCID: PMC7924199 DOI: 10.3390/jpm11020151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Liquid biopsies can be used to analyse tissue-derived information, including cell-free DNA (cfDNA), circulating rare cells, and circulating extracellular vesicles in the blood or other bodily fluids, representing a new way to guide therapeutic decisions in cancer. Among the new challenges of liquid biopsy, we found clinical application in nontumour pathologies, including autoimmune diseases. Since the discovery of the presence of high levels of cfDNA in patients with systemic lupus erythaematosus (SLE) in the 1960s, cfDNA research in autoimmune diseases has mainly focused on the overall quantification of cfDNA and its association with disease activity. However, with technological advancements and the increasing understanding of the role of DNA sensing receptors in inflammation and autoimmunity, interest in cfDNA and autoimmune diseases has not expanded until recently. In this review, we provide an overview of the basic biology of cfDNA in the context of autoimmune diseases as a biomarker of disease activity, progression, and prediction of the treatment response. We discuss and integrate available information about these important aspects.
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Patin NV, Peña-Gonzalez A, Hatt JK, Moe C, Kirby A, Konstantinidis KT. The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Resisting Norovirus Infection as Revealed by a Human Challenge Study. mBio 2020; 11:e02634-20. [PMID: 33203758 PMCID: PMC7683401 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02634-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Norovirus infections take a heavy toll on worldwide public health. While progress has been made toward understanding host responses to infection, the role of the gut microbiome in determining infection outcome is unknown. Moreover, data are lacking on the nature and duration of the microbiome response to norovirus infection, which has important implications for diagnostics and host recovery. Here, we characterized the gut microbiomes of subjects enrolled in a norovirus challenge study. We analyzed microbiome features of asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals at the genome (population) and gene levels and assessed their response over time in symptomatic individuals. We show that the preinfection microbiomes of subjects with asymptomatic infections were enriched in Bacteroidetes and depleted in Clostridia relative to the microbiomes of symptomatic subjects. These compositional differences were accompanied by differences in genes involved in the metabolism of glycans and sphingolipids that may aid in host resilience to infection. We further show that microbiomes shifted in composition following infection and that recovery times were variable among human hosts. In particular, Firmicutes increased immediately following the challenge, while Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria decreased over the same time. Genes enriched in the microbiomes of symptomatic subjects, including the adenylyltransferase glgC, were linked to glycan metabolism and cell-cell signaling, suggesting as-yet unknown roles for these processes in determining infection outcome. These results provide important context for understanding the gut microbiome role in host susceptibility to symptomatic norovirus infection and long-term health outcomes.IMPORTANCE The role of the human gut microbiome in determining whether an individual infected with norovirus will be symptomatic is poorly understood. This study provides important data on microbes that distinguish asymptomatic from symptomatic microbiomes and links these features to infection responses in a human challenge study. The results have implications for understanding resistance to and treatment of norovirus infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- N V Patin
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - A Peña-Gonzalez
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Max Planck Tandem Group in Computational Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - J K Hatt
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - C Moe
- Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - A Kirby
- Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - K T Konstantinidis
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Host DNA contents in fecal metagenomics as a biomarker for intestinal diseases and effective treatment. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:348. [PMID: 32393180 PMCID: PMC7216530 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-6749-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Compromised intestinal barrier (CIB) has been associated with many enteropathies, including colorectal cancer (CRC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We hypothesized that CIB could lead to increased host-derived contents including epithelial cells into the gut, change its physio-metabolic properties, and globally alter microbial community and metabolic capacities. Results Consistently, we found host DNA contents (HDCs), calculated as the percentage of metagenomic sequencing reads mapped to the host genome, were significantly elevated in patients of CRC and Crohn’s disease (CD). Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that HDC correlated with microbial- and metabolic-biomarkers of these diseases, contributed significantly to machine-learning models for patient stratification and was consequently ranked as a top contributor. CD patients with treatment could partially reverse the changes of many CD-signature species over time, with reduced HDC and fecal calprotectin (FCP) levels. Strikingly, HDC showed stronger correlations with the reversing changes of the CD-related species than FCP, and contributed greatly in classifying treatment responses, suggesting that it was also a biomarker for effective treatment. Conclusions Together, we revealed that association between HDCs and gut dysbiosis, and identified HDC as a novel biomarker from fecal metagenomics for diagnosis and effective treatment of intestinal diseases; our results also suggested that host-derived contents may have greater impact on gut microbiota than previously anticipated.
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Wohnhaas CT, Schmid R, Rolser M, Kaaru E, Langgartner D, Rieber K, Strobel B, Eisele C, Wiech F, Jakob I, Gantner F, Herichova I, Vinisko R, Böcher WO, Visvanathan S, Shen F, Panzenbeck M, Raymond E, Reber SO, Delić D, Baum P. Fecal MicroRNAs Show Promise as Noninvasive Crohn's Disease Biomarkers. CROHNS & COLITIS 360 2020; 2:otaa003. [PMID: 32551441 PMCID: PMC7291945 DOI: 10.1093/crocol/otaa003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Background Short non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in various cellular processes during disease progression of Crohn’s disease (CD) and remarkably stable in feces, which make them attractive biomarker candidates for reflecting intestinal inflammatory processes. Here we investigated the potential of fecal miRNAs as noninvasive and translational CD biomarkers. Methods MiRNAs were screened in feces of 52 patients with CD and 15 healthy controls using RNA sequencing and the results were confirmed by PCR. The relationship between fecal miRNA levels and the clinical CD activity index (CDAI) or CD endoscopic index of severity (CDEIS) was explored, respectively. Additionally, fecal miRNAs were investigated in dextran sodium sulfate, adoptive T-cell transfer, and Helicobacter typhlonius/stress-induced murine colitis models using the NanoString platform. Results Nine miRNAs (miR-15a-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-128-3p, miR-142-5p, miR-24-3p, miR-27a-3p, miR-223-3p, miR-223-5p, and miR-3074-5p) were significantly (adj. P < 0.05, >3-fold) increased whereas 8 miRNAs (miR-10a-5p, miR-10b-5p, miR-141-3p, miR-192-5p, miR-200a-3p, miR-375, miR-378a-3p, and let-7g-5p) were significantly decreased in CD. MiR-192-5p, miR-375, and miR-141-3p correlated (P < 0.05) with both CDAI and CDEIS whereas miR-15a-5p correlated only with CDEIS. Deregulated expression of miR-223-3p, miR-16-5p, miR-15a-5p, miR-24-3p, and miR-200a-3p was also observed in murine models. The identified altered fecal miRNA levels reflect pathophysiological mechanisms in CD, such as Th1 and Th17 inflammation, autophagy, and fibrotic processes. Conclusions Our translational study assessed global fecal miRNA changes of patients with CD and relevant preclinical models. These fecal miRNAs show promise as translational and clinically useful noninvasive biomarkers for mechanistic investigation of intestinal pathophysiology, including monitoring of disease progression. MicroRNAs are involved in disease progression of Crohn’s disease (CD). This study identified significantly altered fecal levels of 17 microRNAs in CD compared to healthy subjects. These microRNAs reflect pathophysiological mechanisms and show promise as clinically useful, noninvasive CD biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ramona Schmid
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | - Marcel Rolser
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | - Eric Kaaru
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | - Dominik Langgartner
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Kathrin Rieber
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | | | - Claudia Eisele
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | - Franziska Wiech
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | - Ines Jakob
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | | | | | - Richard Vinisko
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA
| | - Wulf O Böcher
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Ingelheim, Germany
| | | | - Fei Shen
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA
| | - Mark Panzenbeck
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA
| | - Ernest Raymond
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA
| | - Stefan O Reber
- Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Denis Delić
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | - Patrick Baum
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
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Alawi M, Burkhardt L, Indenbirken D, Reumann K, Christopeit M, Kröger N, Lütgehetmann M, Aepfelbacher M, Fischer N, Grundhoff A. DAMIAN: an open source bioinformatics tool for fast, systematic and cohort based analysis of microorganisms in diagnostic samples. Sci Rep 2019; 9:16841. [PMID: 31727957 PMCID: PMC6856179 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52881-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe DAMIAN, an open source bioinformatics tool designed for the identification of pathogenic microorganisms in diagnostic samples. By using authentic clinical samples and comparing our results to those from established analysis pipelines as well as conventional diagnostics, we demonstrate that DAMIAN rapidly identifies pathogens in different diagnostic entities, and accurately classifies viral agents down to the strain level. We furthermore show that DAMIAN is able to assemble full-length viral genomes even in samples co-infected with multiple virus strains, an ability which is of considerable advantage for the investigation of outbreak scenarios. While DAMIAN, similar to other pipelines, analyzes single samples to perform classification of sequences according to their likely taxonomic origin, it also includes a tool for cohort-based analysis. This tool uses cross-sample comparisons to identify sequence signatures that are frequently present in a sample group of interest (e.g., a disease-associated cohort), but occur less frequently in control cohorts. As this approach does not require homology searches in databases, it principally allows the identification of not only known, but also completely novel pathogens. Using samples from a meningitis outbreak, we demonstrate the feasibility of this approach in identifying enterovirus as the causative agent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malik Alawi
- Heinrich-Pette-Institute (HPI), Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Research Group Virus Genomics, Hamburg, Germany.,Bioinformatics Core, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lia Burkhardt
- Heinrich-Pette-Institute (HPI), Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Research Group Virus Genomics, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Daniela Indenbirken
- Heinrich-Pette-Institute (HPI), Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Research Group Virus Genomics, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kerstin Reumann
- Heinrich-Pette-Institute (HPI), Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Research Group Virus Genomics, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Christopeit
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nicolaus Kröger
- Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Marc Lütgehetmann
- Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Martin Aepfelbacher
- Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nicole Fischer
- Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany. .,German Center for Infection Research, DZIF, partner site Hamburg-Borstel-Lübeck-Riems, Germany.
| | - Adam Grundhoff
- Heinrich-Pette-Institute (HPI), Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Research Group Virus Genomics, Hamburg, Germany. .,German Center for Infection Research, DZIF, partner site Hamburg-Borstel-Lübeck-Riems, Germany.
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Slinger KR, Stewart AH, Daniel ZCTR, Hall H, Masey O’Neill HV, Bedford MR, Parr T, Brameld JM. The association between faecal host DNA or faecal calprotectin and feed efficiency in pigs fed yeast-enriched protein concentrate. Animal 2019; 13:2483-2491. [PMID: 31062686 PMCID: PMC6801643 DOI: 10.1017/s1751731119000818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Revised: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Gut cell losses contribute to overall feed efficiency due to the energy requirement for cell replenishment. Intestinal epithelial cells are sloughed into the intestinal lumen as digesta passes through the gastrointestinal tract, where cells are degraded by endonucleases. This leads to fragmented DNA being present in faeces, which may be an indicator of gut cell loss. Therefore, measuring host faecal DNA content could have potential as a non-invasive marker of gut cell loss and result in a novel technique for the assessment of how different feed ingredients impact upon gut health. Faecal calprotectin (CALP) is a marker of intestinal inflammation. This was a pilot study designed to test a methodology for extracting and quantifying DNA from pig faeces, and to assess whether any differences in host faecal DNA and CALP could be detected. An additional aim was to determine whether any differences in the above measures were related to the pig performance response to dietary yeast-enriched protein concentrate (YPC). Newly weaned (∼26.5 days of age) Large White × Landrace × Pietrain piglets (8.37 kg ±1.10, n = 180) were assigned to one of four treatment groups (nine replicates of five pigs), differing in dietary YPC content: 0% (control), 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% (w/w). Pooled faecal samples were collected on days 14 and 28 of the 36-day trial. Deoxyribonucleic acid was extracted and quantitative PCR was used to assess DNA composition. Pig genomic DNA was detected using primers specific for the pig cytochrome b (CYTB) gene, and bacterial DNA was detected using universal 16S primers. A pig CALP ELISA was used to assess gut inflammation. Dietary YPC significantly reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR) from weaning to day 14 (P<0.001), but not from day 14 to day 28 (P = 0.220). Pig faecal CYTB DNA content was significantly (P = 0.008) reduced in YPC-treated pigs, with no effect of time, whereas total faecal bacterial DNA content was unaffected by diet or time (P>0.05). Faecal CALP levels were significantly higher at day 14 compared with day 28, but there was no effect of YPC inclusion and no relationship with FCR. In conclusion, YPC reduced faecal CYTB DNA content and this correlated positively with FCR, but was unrelated to gut inflammation, suggesting that it could be a non-invasive marker of gut cell loss. However, further validation experiments by an independent method are required to verify the origin of pig faecal CYTB DNA as being from sloughed intestinal epithelial cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- K. R. Slinger
- Nutritional Sciences, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, The University of Nottingham, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
| | - A. H. Stewart
- Animal Production, Welfare and Veterinary Sciences, Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB, United Kingdom
| | - Z. C. T. R. Daniel
- Nutritional Sciences, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, The University of Nottingham, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
| | - H. Hall
- AB Agri Limited, Innovation Way, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6FL, United Kingdom
| | - H. V. Masey O’Neill
- AB Agri Limited, Innovation Way, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6FL, United Kingdom
| | - M. R. Bedford
- AB Vista, Woodstock Ct, Marlborough SN8 4AN, United Kingdom
| | - T. Parr
- Nutritional Sciences, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, The University of Nottingham, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
| | - J. M. Brameld
- Nutritional Sciences, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, The University of Nottingham, Leicestershire LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
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11
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Cell-Free Nucleic Acids and their Emerging Role in the Pathogenesis and Clinical Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20153662. [PMID: 31357438 PMCID: PMC6696129 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20153662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2019] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell-free nucleic acids (cfNAs) are defined as any nucleic acids that are present outside the cell. They represent valuable biomarkers in various diagnostic protocols such as prenatal diagnostics, the detection of cancer, and cardiovascular or autoimmune diseases. However, in the current literature, little is known about their implication in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is a group of multifactorial, autoimmune, and debilitating diseases with increasing incidence worldwide. Despite extensive research, their etiology and exact pathogenesis is still unclear. Since cfNAs were observed in other autoimmune diseases and appear to be relevant in inflammatory processes, their role in the pathogenesis of IBD has also been suggested. This review provides a summary of knowledge from the available literature about cfDNA and cfRNA and the structures involving them such as exosomes and neutrophil extracellular traps and their association with IBD. Current studies showed the promise of cfNAs in the management of IBD not only as biomarkers distinguishing patients from healthy people and differentiating active from inactive disease state, but also as a potential therapeutic target. However, the detailed biological characteristics of cfNAs need to be fully elucidated in future experimental and clinical studies.
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12
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Whole-Genome Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Analysis Applied Directly to Stool for Genotyping Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli: an Advanced Molecular Detection Method for Foodborne Disease Surveillance and Outbreak Tracking. J Clin Microbiol 2019; 57:JCM.00307-19. [PMID: 31068414 DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00307-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of pathogens from pure culture provides unparalleled accuracy and comprehensive results at a cost that is advantageous compared with traditional diagnostic methods. Sequencing pathogens directly from a primary clinical specimen would help circumvent the need for culture and, in the process, substantially shorten the time to diagnosis and public health reporting. Unfortunately, this approach poses significant challenges because of the mixture of multiple sequences from a complex fecal biomass. The aim of this project was to develop a proof of concept protocol for the sequencing and genotyping of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) directly from stool specimens. We have developed an enrichment protocol that reliably achieves a substantially higher DNA yield belonging to E. coli, which provides adequate next-generation sequencing (NGS) data for downstream bioinformatics analysis. A custom bioinformatics pipeline was created to optimize and remove non-E. coli reads, assess the STEC versus commensal E. coli population in the samples, and build consensus sequences based on population allele frequency distributions. Side-by-side analysis of WGS from paired STEC isolates and matched primary stool specimens reveal that this method can reliably be implemented for many clinical specimens to directly genotype STEC and accurately identify clusters of disease outbreak when no STEC isolate is available for testing.
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13
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A Pipeline for Faecal Host DNA Analysis by Absolute Quantification of LINE-1 and Mitochondrial Genomic Elements Using ddPCR. Sci Rep 2019; 9:5599. [PMID: 30944341 PMCID: PMC6447604 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41753-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Stool contains DNA shed from cells of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and has great potential as a bio-specimen for non-invasive, nucleic acid-based detection of GI diseases. Whereas methods for studying faecal microbiome DNA are plentiful, there is a lack of well-characterised procedures for stabilisation, isolation, and quantitative analysis of faecal host DNA. We report an optimised pipeline for faecal host DNA analysis from the point-of-collection to droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) absolute quantification of host-specific gene targets. We evaluated multiple methods for preservation and isolation of host DNA from stool to identify the highest performing methods. To quantify host DNA even if present in partially degraded form, we developed sensitive, human-specific short-amplicon ddPCR assays targeting repetitive nuclear genomic elements (LINE-1) and mitochondrial genes. We validated the ability of these optimised methods to perform absolute quantification of host DNA in 200 stool DNA extracts from samples that were serially collected from three healthy individuals and three hospitalised patients. These specimens allowed assessment of host DNA day-to-day variability in stool specimens with widely varying physical characteristics (i.e., Bristol scores). We further extended this approach to mouse stool analysis, to enable faecal host DNA studies in animal disease models as well.
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14
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Lau AS, Mitsuyama E, Odamaki T, Xiao JZ, Liong MT. El Niño Altered Gut Microbiota of Children: A New Insight on Weather–Gut Interactions and Protective Effects of Probiotic. J Med Food 2019; 22:230-240. [DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2018.4276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Amy S.Y. Lau
- Bioprocess Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Eri Mitsuyama
- Next Generation Science Institute, Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Zama, Japan
| | - Toshitaka Odamaki
- Next Generation Science Institute, Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Zama, Japan
| | - Jin-Zhong Xiao
- Next Generation Science Institute, Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd., Zama, Japan
| | - Min-Tze Liong
- Bioprocess Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
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15
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Balloux F, Brønstad Brynildsrud O, van Dorp L, Shaw LP, Chen H, Harris KA, Wang H, Eldholm V. From Theory to Practice: Translating Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) into the Clinic. Trends Microbiol 2018; 26:1035-1048. [PMID: 30193960 PMCID: PMC6249990 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2018.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2018] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 08/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Hospitals worldwide are facing an increasing incidence of hard-to-treat infections. Limiting infections and providing patients with optimal drug regimens require timely strain identification as well as virulence and drug-resistance profiling. Additionally, prophylactic interventions based on the identification of environmental sources of recurrent infections (e.g., contaminated sinks) and reconstruction of transmission chains (i.e., who infected whom) could help to reduce the incidence of nosocomial infections. WGS could hold the key to solving these issues. However, uptake in the clinic has been slow. Some major scientific and logistical challenges need to be solved before WGS fulfils its potential in clinical microbial diagnostics. In this review we identify major bottlenecks that need to be resolved for WGS to routinely inform clinical intervention and discuss possible solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francois Balloux
- UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; These authors made equal contributions.
| | - Ola Brønstad Brynildsrud
- Infectious Diseases and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Lovisenberggata 8, Oslo 0456, Norway; These authors made equal contributions
| | - Lucy van Dorp
- UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; These authors made equal contributions
| | - Liam P Shaw
- UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Hongbin Chen
- UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Kathryn A Harris
- Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Microbiology, Virology & Infection Prevention & Control, London WC1N 3JH, UK
| | - Hui Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Vegard Eldholm
- Infectious Diseases and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Lovisenberggata 8, Oslo 0456, Norway
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16
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Brown JRM, Flemer B, Joyce SA, Zulquernain A, Sheehan D, Shanahan F, O'Toole PW. Changes in microbiota composition, bile and fatty acid metabolism, in successful faecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridioides difficile infection. BMC Gastroenterol 2018; 18:131. [PMID: 30153805 PMCID: PMC6114236 DOI: 10.1186/s12876-018-0860-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2018] [Accepted: 08/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Alteration of the gut microbiota by repeated antibiotic treatment increases susceptibility to Clostridioides difficile infection. Faecal microbiota transplantation from donors with a normal microbiota effectively treats C. difficile infection. Methods The study involved 10 patients with recurrent C. difficile infection, nine of whom received transplants from individual donors and one who received a donor unit from a stool bank (OpenBiome). Results All individuals demonstrated enduring post-transplant resolution of C. difficile- associated diarrhoea. Faecal microbiota diversity of recipients significantly increased, and the composition of the microbiota resembled that of the donor. Patients with C. difficile infection exhibited significantly lower faecal levels of secondary/ bile acids and higher levels of primary bile acids. Levels of secondary bile acids were restored in all transplant recipients, but to a lower degree with the OpenBiome transplant. The abundance increased of bacterial genera known from previous studies to confer resistance to growth and germination of C. difficile. These were significantly negatively associated with primary bile acid levels and positively related with secondary bile acid levels. Although reduced levels of the short chain fatty acids, butyrate, propionate and acetate, have been previously reported, here we report elevations in SCFA, pyruvic and lactic fatty acids, saturated, ω-6, monounsaturated, ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in C. difficile infection. This potentially indicates one or a combination of increased dietary FA intake, microbial modification of FAs or epithelial cell damage and inflammatory cell recruitment. No reversion to donor FA profile occurred post-FMT but ω-3 to ω-6 PUFA ratios were altered in the direction of the donor. Archaeal metabolism genes were found in some samples post FMT. Conclusion A consistent metabolic signature was identified in the post-transplant microbiota, with reduced primary bile acids and substantial restoration of secondary bile acid production capacity. Total FA levels were unchanged but the ratio of inflammatory to non-inflammatory FAs decreased. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12876-018-0860-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jillian R-M Brown
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.,School of Microbiology, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
| | - Burkhardt Flemer
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.,School of Microbiology, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
| | - Susan A Joyce
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.,School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
| | - Akbar Zulquernain
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Medicine, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
| | - Donal Sheehan
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Medicine, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
| | - Fergus Shanahan
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.,Department of Medicine, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
| | - Paul W O'Toole
- APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland. .,School of Microbiology, University College Cork, National University of Ireland, Cork, Ireland.
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17
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Glisovic S, Eintracht S, Longtin Y, Oughton M, Brukner I. Rectal swab screening assays of public health importance in molecular diagnostics: Sample adequacy control. J Infect Public Health 2017; 11:234-237. [PMID: 28801105 DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2017.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2017] [Revised: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 07/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Rectal swabs are routinely used by public health authorities to screen for multi-drug resistant enteric bacteria including vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE). Screening sensitivity can be influenced by the quality of the swabbing, whether performed by the patient (self-swabbing) or a healthcare practitioner. One common exclusion criterion for rectal swabs is absence of "visible soiling" from fecal matter. In our institution, this criterion excludes almost 10% of rectal swabs received in the microbiology laboratory. Furthermore, over 30% of patients in whom rectal swabs are cancelled will not be re-screened within the next 48h, resulting in delays in removing infection prevention measures. We describe two quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based assays, human RNAse P and eubacterial 16S rDNA, which might serve as suitable controls for sampling adequacy. However, lower amounts of amplifiable human DNA make the 16s rDNA assay a better candidate for sample adequacy control.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Shaun Eintracht
- Medical Faculty, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Yves Longtin
- Medical Faculty, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Matthew Oughton
- Medical Faculty, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Ivan Brukner
- Medical Faculty, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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18
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Vincent C, Miller MA, Edens TJ, Mehrotra S, Dewar K, Manges AR. Bloom and bust: intestinal microbiota dynamics in response to hospital exposures and Clostridium difficile colonization or infection. MICROBIOME 2016; 4:12. [PMID: 26975510 PMCID: PMC4791782 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-016-0156-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2015] [Accepted: 02/14/2016] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the leading infectious cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Hospitalized patients are at increased risk of developing CDI because they are exposed to C. difficile spores through contact with the hospital environment and often receive antibiotics and other medications that can disrupt the integrity of the indigenous intestinal microbiota and impair colonization resistance. Using whole metagenome shotgun sequencing, we examined the diversity and composition of the fecal microbiota in a prospective cohort study of 98 hospitalized patients. RESULTS Four patients had asymptomatic C. difficile colonization, and four patients developed CDI. We observed dramatic shifts in the structure of the gut microbiota during hospitalization. In contrast to CDI cases, asymptomatic patients exhibited elevated relative abundance of potentially protective bacterial taxa in their gut at the onset of C. difficile colonization. Use of laxatives was associated with significant reductions in the relative abundance of Clostridium and Eubacterium; species within these genera have previously been shown to enhance resistance to CDI via the production of secondary bile acids. Cephalosporin and fluoroquinolone exposure decreased the frequency of Clostridiales Family XI Incertae Sedis, a bacterial family that has been previously associated with decreased CDI risk. CONCLUSIONS This study underscores the detrimental impact of antibiotics as well as other medications, particularly laxatives, on the intestinal microbiota and suggests that co-colonization with key bacterial taxa may prevent C. difficile overgrowth or the transition from asymptomatic C. difficile colonization to CDI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Vincent
- />Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec Canada
- />Génome Québec Innovation Centre, McGill University, Montréal, Québec Canada
| | | | - Thaddeus J. Edens
- />Devil’s Staircase Consulting, North Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
| | | | - Ken Dewar
- />Génome Québec Innovation Centre, McGill University, Montréal, Québec Canada
- />Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montréal, Québec Canada
| | - Amee R. Manges
- />School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
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