Comprehensive microbiome analysis of tonsillar crypts in IgA nephropathy

Hirofumi Watanabe; Shin Goto; Hiroshi Mori; Koichi Higashi; Kazuyoshi Hosomichi; Naotaka Aizawa; Nao Takahashi; Masafumi Tsuchida; Yusuke Suzuki; Takuji Yamada; Arata Horii; Ituro Inoue; Ken Kurokawa; Ichiei Narita

doi:10.1093/ndt/gfw343

Comprehensive microbiome analysis of tonsillar crypts in IgA nephropathy

Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2017 Dec 1;32(12):2072-2079. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfw343.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Clinical Nephrology and Rheumatology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan.
² Department of Biological Information, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Division of Human Genetics, Department of Integrated Genetics, National Institute of Genetics, Shizuoka, Japan.
⁴ Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan.
⁵ Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 27683270
DOI: 10.1093/ndt/gfw343

Abstract

Background: Immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is the most prevalent primary chronic glomerular disease, in which the mucosal immune response elicited particularly in the tonsils or intestine has been estimated to be involved in the development of the disease. To explore the relationship between IgAN and bacterial flora in the tonsils, we conducted a comprehensive microbiome analysis.

Methods: We enrolled 48 IgAN patients, 21 recurrent tonsillitis (RT) patients without urine abnormalities and 30 children with tonsillar hyperplasia (TH) who had undergone tonsillectomy previously. Genomic DNA from tonsillar crypts of each patient was extracted, and V4 regions of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene were amplified and analysed using a high-throughput multiplexed sequencing approach. Differences in genus composition among the three study groups were statistically analysed by permutational multivariate analysis of variance and visualized by principal component analysis (PCA).

Results: Substantial diversity in bacterial composition was detected in each sample. Prevotella spp., Fusobacterium spp., Sphingomonas spp. and Treponema spp. were predominant in IgAN patients. The percentage of abundance of Prevotella spp., Haemophilus spp., Porphyromonas spp. and Treponema spp. in IgAN patients was significantly different from that in TH patients. However, there was no significant difference in the percentage of abundance of any bacterial genus between IgAN and RT patients. PCA did not distinguish IgAN from RT, although it discriminated TH. No significant differences in microbiome composition among the groups of IgAN patients according to clinicopathological parameters were observed.

Conclusions: Similar patterns of bacteria are present in tonsillar crypts of both IgAN and RT patients, suggesting that the host response to these bacteria might be important in the development of IgAN.

Keywords: 16S ribosomal RNA; IgA nephropathy; microbiome; recurrent tonsillitis; tonsil.

MeSH terms

Adult
Child
Female
Glomerulonephritis, IGA / genetics
Glomerulonephritis, IGA / microbiology
Glomerulonephritis, IGA / pathology*
Glomerulonephritis, IGA / surgery
Humans
Hyperplasia / genetics
Hyperplasia / microbiology
Hyperplasia / pathology*
Hyperplasia / surgery
Male
Microbiota / genetics*
Palatine Tonsil / metabolism
Palatine Tonsil / microbiology*
RNA, Bacterial / genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics*
Tonsillectomy
Tonsillitis / genetics
Tonsillitis / microbiology
Tonsillitis / pathology*
Tonsillitis / surgery

Substances

RNA, Bacterial
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S