Gastrointestinal health: changes of intestinal mucosa and microbiota in patients with ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome from PM2.5-polluted regions of Ukraine

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 3; pp. 7312 - 7324
• Main Authors: Dorofeyev, Andrey, Dorofeyeva, Anna, Borysov, Arsenii, Tolstanova, Ganna, Borisova, Tatiana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2023
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Research Article; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Polymerase chain reaction; Airborne particulate matter; Biopsy; Mucosa; Intestinal microbiota; Gut; Air pollution; Regulatory bacteria
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-22710-9

Here, clinical studies of patients were conducted to assess changes in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) associated with air pollution by PM. A comparative study of 100 patients with UC and 75 with IBS from highly (HPRs) and low (LPRs) PM
2.5
-polluted regions of Ukraine was conducted. Biopsy of the intestinal mucosa of patients with UC from HPRs showed severe cellular infiltration. Patients with IBS from HPRs had changes in the superficial epithelium (focal desquamation), and inflammatory-cellular infiltration of mucous membrane of the colon. In patients with UC, changes in mucus production were found, which were more significant in HPR patients. PAS response did not depend on the residence; the level of MUC2 was significantly lower in HPR patients with UC (1.12 vs 2.15 au). In patients with UC from HPRs, a decrease in
Bacteroidetes
(34.0 vs. 39.0 small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), ppm) and an increase in
Proteobacteria
compared to LPRs were shown. In IBS patients, significant differences were found in the level of
Proteobacteria
, which was higher in HPRs. The level of regulatory flora
Akkermansia muciniphila
and
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii
reduced in patients with UC from HPRs. In patients from LPRs, the level of
Akkermansia muciniphila
raised above normal (2.8 vs 4.7 SIBO, ppm). Similar changes of regulatory flora have been identified in patients with IBS from different regions. Therefore, a more severe course of the disease (more pronounced cellular infiltration and violation of the microbiota) was shown in patients with UC from HPRs as compared to LPRs.