Objective: This paper provides an overview of Desulfovibrio (DSV) incidence and its effect on bacterial diversity in human gastrointestinal tract of four groups: ulcerative colitis (UC), colorectal cancer (CRC), polypus (PP) and the healthy control (H).
Methods: Real time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) assays were used to enumerate DSV in gastrointestinal tract of 58 subjects. Diversity of gut microbiota was analyzed by PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and 16S rRNA V3 sequencing.
Results: RT-PCR detected DSV in all samples. Significantly increased numbers of DSV were observed for UC and PP groups compared with CRC and H groups. No significant difference was observed for CRC and H groups with gene copy numbers of DSV. Alterations of DSV and gut microbiota were observed in disease groups.
Conclusion: We found that quantity and diversity of DSV are significantly increased in UC and PP compared to controls. The increased numbers of DSV in disease groups suggests a possible harmful role.