Dahiya M, Jovel J, Monaghan T, Wong K, Elhenawy W, Chui L, McAlister F, Kao D. In Silico Analysis of Changes in Predicted Metabolic Capabilities of Intestinal Microbiota after Fecal Microbial Transplantation for Treatment of Recurrent
Clostridioides difficile Infection.
Microorganisms 2023;
11:microorganisms11041078. [PMID:
37110500 PMCID:
PMC10143790 DOI:
10.3390/microorganisms11041078]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
IMPORTANCE
Although highly effective in treating recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (RCDI), the mechanisms of action of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) are not fully understood.
AIM
The aim of this study was to explore microbially derived products or pathways that could contribute to the therapeutic efficacy of FMT.
METHODS
Stool shotgun metagenomic sequencing data from 18 FMT-treated RCDI patients at 4 points in time were used for the taxonomic and functional profiling of their gut microbiome. The abundance of the KEGG orthology (KO) groups was subjected to univariate linear mixed models to assess the significance of the observed differences between 0 (pre-FMT), 1, 4, and 12 weeks after FMT.
RESULTS
Of the 59,987 KO groups identified by shotgun metagenomic sequencing, 27 demonstrated a statistically significant change after FMT. These KO groups are involved in many cellular processes, including iron homeostasis, glycerol metabolism, and arginine regulation, all of which have been implicated to play important roles in bacterial growth and virulence in addition to modulating the intestinal microbial composition.
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest potential changes in key KO groups post-FMT, which may contribute to FMT efficacy beyond the restored microbial composition/diversity and metabolism of bile acids and short-chain fatty acids. Future larger studies that include a fecal metabolomics analysis combined with animal model validation work are required to further elucidate the molecular mechanisms.
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