Alterations to the Gut Microbiota and Their Correlation With Inflammatory Factors in Chronic Kidney Disease

• Published in: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology Vol. 9; p. 206
• Main Authors: Li, FengXia, Wang, MeiHong, Wang, JunPing, Li, RongShan, Zhang, YaQiong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 12-06-2019
• Subjects: 16S rDNA deep sequencing; Adult; Aged; Akkermansia; Bacteria - classification; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; Biomarkers; Cellular and Infection Microbiology; China; chronic kidney disease; Cytokines - blood; DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification; Dysbiosis - microbiology; Feces - microbiology; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - genetics; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - physiology; Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology; gut microbiota; Humans; Inflammation; inflammatory factors; Male; Middle Aged; Probiotics; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - microbiology; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Verrucomicrobia - physiology; China; 16S rDNA deep sequencing; Akkermansia; chronic kidney disease; inflammatory factors; gut microbiota
• ISSN: 2235-2988; 2235-2988
• DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00206

Alterations to the gut microbiota have been previously suggested to be tightly linked to chronic systemic inflammation, which is a major contributing factor to complications and disease progression in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Nevertheless, the effect of gut dysbiosis on the pathogenesis and/or production of inflammatory factors in CKD has not been extensively studied to date. In the present study, we conducted 16S ribosomal DNA pyrosequencing using fecal microbiota samples and analyzed the production of serum inflammatory factors in 50 patients with CKD and 22 healthy control (HC) subjects. The results revealed that compared to the HC subjects, patients with CKD exhibited a significant reduction in the richness and structure of their fecal microbiota. At the phylum level, compared to the HC group, patients with CKD also presented reduced abundance of Actinobacteria but increased abundance of Verrucomicrobia. Moreover, the genera
, and
were enriched in the fecal samples of patients with CKD, while
and
were enriched in those of the HC subjects. The abundance of
in the CKD group was significantly lower than that in the HC group (3.08 vs. 0.67%); this decrease in the abundance of
, an important probiotic, in patients with CKD is a striking discovery as it has not been previously reported. Finally, we analyzed whether these changes to the fecal microbiota correlated with CKD clinical characteristics and/or the production of known inflammatory factors. Altered levels of the microbiota genera
, and
were shown to be correlated with CKD disease-severity indicators, including the estimated glomerular filtration rate. Most notably,
was significantly negatively correlated with the production of interleukin-10. The results of the present study suggest that microbiota dysbiosis may promote chronic systemic inflammation in CKD. Furthermore, they support that modifying the gut microbiota, especially
, may be a promising potential therapeutic strategy to attenuate the progression of, and/or systemic inflammation in, CKD.