Does the intestinal microbial community of Korean Crohn's disease patients differ from that of western patients?

• Published in: BMC gastroenterology Vol. 16; no. 29; p. 28
• Main Authors: Eun, Chang Soo, Kwak, Min-Jung, Han, Dong Soo, Lee, A Reum, Park, Dong Il, Yang, Suk-Kyun, Kim, Yong Seok, Kim, Jihyun F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 29-02-2016; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Acidobacteria - genetics; Actinobacteria - genetics; Adult; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - therapeutic use; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Azathioprine - therapeutic use; Bacteroidetes - genetics; Case-Control Studies; Causes of; Crohn Disease - drug therapy; Crohn Disease - ethnology; Crohn Disease - microbiology; Crohn's disease; DNA, Ribosomal - genetics; Dysbiosis - ethnology; Dysbiosis - microbiology; Feces - microbiology; Female; Firmicutes - genetics; Fusobacteria - genetics; Gammaproteobacteria - genetics; Gastroenterology; Gastrointestinal Agents - therapeutic use; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - genetics; Genetic aspects; Humans; Immunosuppressive Agents - therapeutic use; Infliximab - therapeutic use; Intestinal Mucosa - microbiology; Male; Mesalamine - therapeutic use; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Physiological aspects; Prednisolone - therapeutic use; Proteobacteria - genetics; Republic of Korea; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - antagonists & inhibitors; South Korea
• ISSN: 1471-230X; 1471-230X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12876-016-0437-0

Intestinal microbiota play an important role in maintaining the homeostasis of the host immune system. To analyze the alteration of the intestinal microbial community structure in Korean Crohn's disease (CD) patients, we performed a comparative metagenomic analysis between healthy people and CD patients using fecal samples and mucosal tissues of ileocecal valve.
16S rRNA genes from fecal samples or mucosal tissues of 35 CD patients and 15 healthy controls (HC) were amplified using a universal primer set and sequenced with GS FLX Titanium. The microbial composition and diversity of each sample were analyzed with the mothur pipeline, and the association between microbial community and clinical characteristics of the patients were investigated.
The contribution of bacterial groups to the intestinal microbial composition differed between CD and HC, especially in fecal samples. Global structure and individual bacterial abundance of intestinal microbial community were different between feces and ileocecal tissues in HC. In CD patients with active stage, relative abundances of Gammaproteobacteria and Fusobacteria were higher in both fecal and mucosal tissue samples. Moreover, the intestinal microbial community structure was altered by anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment.
Our 16S rRNA sequence data demonstrate intestinal dysbiosis at the community level in Korean CD patients, which is similar to alterations of the intestinal microbial community seen in the western counterparts. Clinical disease activity and anti-TNF treatment might affect the intestinal microbial community structure in CD patients.