Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is not decreased in symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease of the colon

Antonio Tursi; Paola Mastromarino; Daniela Capobianco; Walter Elisei; Giuseppe Campagna; Marcello Picchio; GianMarco Giorgetti; Federica Fabiocchi; Giovanni Brandimarte

doi:10.12938/bmfh.2022-046

Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is not decreased in symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease of the colon

Biosci Microbiota Food Health. 2023;42(1):1-2. doi: 10.12938/bmfh.2022-046. Epub 2022 Aug 30.

Authors

Antonio Tursi^{1

2}, Paola Mastromarino³, Daniela Capobianco³, Walter Elisei⁴, Giuseppe Campagna⁵, Marcello Picchio⁶, GianMarco Giorgetti⁷, Federica Fabiocchi⁷, Giovanni Brandimarte⁸

Affiliations

¹ Territorial Gastroenterology Service, Azienda Sanitaria Locale, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Andria 76123, Italy.
² Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Section of Microbiology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Division of Gastroenterology, S. Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy.
⁵ Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
⁶ Division of Surgery, P. Colombo Hospital, ASL Roma 6, Velletri (Rome), Italy.
⁷ Digestive Endoscopy and Nutrition Unit, S. Eugenio Hospital, Rome, Italy.
⁸ Division of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, Cristo Re Hospital, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

In this letter, assessment of the amount of fecal Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD) is described. Among 44 consecutive patients, comprising 15 SUDD patients, 13 patients with asymptomatic diverticulosis (AD), and 16 healthy controls (HC), the fecal amount of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was not found to be significantly different between HC, AD and SUDD subjects (p=0.871). Moreover, its count in the HC microbiota (-4.57 ± 2.15) was lower compared with those in the AD (-4.11 ± 1.03) and SUDD subjects (-4.03 ± 1.299). This behavior seems to be different from that occurring in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and similar to that of other mucin-degrading species in a SUDD setting.

Keywords: Faecalibacterium prausnitzii; diverticular disease; fecal microbiota.