Gut microbiome dysbiosis in men who have sex with men increases HIV infection risk through immunity homeostasis alteration

Kangjie Li; Jielian Deng; Cong Zhang; Guichuan Lai; Biao Xie; Xiaoni Zhong

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2023.1260068

Gut microbiome dysbiosis in men who have sex with men increases HIV infection risk through immunity homeostasis alteration

Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2023 Nov 16:13:1260068. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1260068. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kangjie Li^#¹, Jielian Deng^#¹, Cong Zhang¹, Guichuan Lai¹, Biao Xie¹, Xiaoni Zhong¹

Affiliation

¹ College of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objectives: Recent studies pointed out that gut microbiome dysbiosis in HIV infection was possibly confounded in men who have sex with men (MSM), but there is a lack of evidence. It also remained unclear how MSM-associated gut microbiome dysbiosis affected human health. This study aimed to compare the differences in gut microbiome changes between HIV and MSM and reveal the potential impacts of MSM-associated gut microbiome dysbiosis on the immune system.

Methods: We searched available studies based on the PubMed database, and all gut microbiome changes associated with HIV infection and MSM were extracted from the enrolled studies. The gutMgene database was used to identify the target genes and metabolites of the gut microbiome. Bioinformatic technology and single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis were utilized to explore the impacts of these gut microbiome changes on human immunity.

Results: The results showed significant overlaps between the gut microbiome associated with HIV and that of MSM. Moreover, bioinformatic analysis revealed that gut microbiome dysbiosis in MSM had an impact on several pathways related to immunity, including the IL-17 signaling pathway and Th17 cell differentiation. Additionally, target genes of MSM-associated gut microbiome were found to be highly expressed in monocytes and lymphocytes, suggesting their potential regulatory role in immune cells. Furthermore, we found that MSM-associated gut microbiome could produce acetate and butyrate which were reported to increase the level of inflammatory factors.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this study highlighted that MSM-associated gut microbiome dysbiosis might increase the risk of HIV acquisition by activating the immune system. Further studies are expected to elucidate the mechanism by which gut microbiome dysbiosis in MSM modulates HIV susceptibility.

Keywords: HIV; gut microbiome; gutMgene database; immunity; men who have sex with men.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Dysbiosis
Gastrointestinal Microbiome* / genetics
HIV Infections* / complications
Homeostasis
Homosexuality, Male
Humans
Infections*
Male
Sexual and Gender Minorities*

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the National Youth Science Foundation Project of China (82204159) and the Postdoctoral Fund project of Chongqing (cstc2021jcyj-bshX0220).