Gut microbiome dysbiosis and correlation with blood biomarkers in active-tuberculosis in endemic setting

PLoS One. 2021 Jan 22;16(1):e0245534. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245534. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is the largest infectious disease with 10 million new active-TB patients and1.7 million deaths per year. Active-TB is an inflammatory disease and is increasingly viewed as an imbalance of immune responses to M. tb. infection. The mechanisms of a switch from latent infection to active disease is not well worked out but a shift in the immune responses is thought to be responsible. Increasingly, the role of gut microbiota has been described as a major influencer of the immune system. And because the gut is the largest immune organ, we aimed to analyze the gut microbiome in active-TB patients in a TB-endemic country, Pakistan. The study revealed that Ruminococcacea, Enetrobactericeae, Erysipelotrichaceae, Bifidobacterium, etc. were the major genera associated with active-TB, also associated with chronic inflammatory disease. Plasma antibody profiles against several M. tb. antigens, as specific biomarkers for active-TB, correlated closely with the patient gut microbial profiles. Besides, bcoA gene copy number, indicative of the level of butyrate production by the gut microbiome was five-fold lower in TB patients compared to healthy individuals. These findings suggest that gut health in TB patients is compromised, with implications for disease morbidity (e.g., severe weight loss) as well as immune impairment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Acyl Coenzyme A / genetics
  • Adult
  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Dysbiosis / complications*
  • Endemic Diseases*
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
  • Gene Dosage
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Tuberculosis / blood*
  • Tuberculosis / complications
  • Tuberculosis / epidemiology
  • Tuberculosis / microbiology*

Substances

  • Acyl Coenzyme A
  • Biomarkers
  • butyryl-coenzyme A

Grants and funding

This work was supported by funding to I.H.K., in whole or in part, from the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State, and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, and any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the project sponsors. The funders has no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.