Gut microbial signatures in clinically stable ulcerative colitis according to the mucosal state and associated symptoms

Abstract

Background and aim: The gut microbiome of patients with clinically stable ulcerative colitis (UC) differs from that of healthy individuals depending on the state of the colonic mucosa, especially with or without advanced scarring; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Therefore, this study examined the gut microbiome compositional signatures in patients with significant mucosal scarring and UC-related symptoms.

Methods: Stool samples for gut microbiome analysis were prospectively collected from 57 patients with clinically stable UC between January 1 and December 31, 2022. Data from 57 individuals without inflammatory bowel disease (non-IBD) paired by age and sex were selected from our previous study as the control group. The fecal samples were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Associations between gut microbiome profiles and clinical or colonoscopic assessments were examined using diversity and differential abundance analyses.

Results: Gut microbiome compositions between the patients with clinically stable UC and non-IBD controls differed significantly. Furthermore, gut microbiome compositions varied between the preserved and altered mucosa groups identified based on mucosal changes in the UC group. Differential abundance test of patients with UC for symptomatic remission based on stool frequency from the two-item patient-reported outcome identified several overlapping taxa specified as gut microbiome signatures, including the Enterobacteriaceae unknown genera (Enterobacteriaceae_g), Klebsiella, and several Lachnospiraceae spp. both in mucosal and symptom change analyses.

Conclusions: The gut microbiome can change with mucosal changes, even in clinically stable UC, and some gut microbial signatures may explain the symptom manifestations in patients with UC showing significant mucosal changes.

Keywords: biomarker; gut microbiome; ulcerative colitis.