Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Modulates the Gut Flora Favoring Patients With Functional Constipation

Study information

Needs review

study design

time series / longitudinal observational

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

34690948

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.3389/fmicb.2021.700718

URI

Authors

Zhang X, Li N, Chen Q, Qin H

Journal

Frontiers in microbiology

Year

2021

Keywords:

16S rDNA gene sequencing, fecal microbiota transplantation, functional constipation, gut microbiome, serum inflammatory factor, short chain fatty acid

Intestinal dysmotility is common in many diseases and is correlated with gut microbiota dysbiosis and systemic inflammation. Functional constipation (FC) is the most typical manifestation of intestinal hypomotility and reduces patients' quality of life. Some studies have reported that fecal micriobiota transplantation (FMT) may be an effective and safe therapy for FC as it corrects intestinal dysbiosis. This study was conducted to evaluate how FMT remodels the gut microbiome and to determine a possible correlation between certain microbes and clinical symptoms in constipated individuals. Data were retrospectively collected on 18 patients who underwent FMT between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. The fecal bacterial genome was detected by sequencing the V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rDNA gene. Fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and serum inflammatory factor concentrations were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Comparing the changes in fecal microbiome compositions before and after FMT revealed a significant augmentation in the alpha diversity and increased abundances of some flora such as Clostridiales, Fusicatenibacter, and Paraprevotella. This was consistent with the patients experiencing relief from their clinical symptoms. Abundances of other flora, including Lachnoanaerobaculum, were decreased, which might correlate with the severity of patients' constipation. Although no differences were found in SCFA production, the butyric acid concentration was correlated with both bacterial alterations and clinical symptoms. Serum IL-8 levels were significantly lower after FMT than at baseline, but IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12p70 levels were not noticeably changed. This study showed how FMT regulates the intestinal microenvironment and affects systemic inflammation in constipated patients, providing direction for further research on the mechanisms of FMT. It also revealed potential microbial targets for precise intervention, which may bring new breakthroughs in treating constipation.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2025/03/29

Curator: Inisimeon

Revision editor(s): Inisimeon, UtibeIta

Subjects

Location of subjects: China

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Constipation Constipation,Costiveness,Dyschezia,constipation

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: pre-FMT sample

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: 1 month post-FMT sample

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: recipient sample after 1-month Post-Fecal Microbiota Translocation

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 18

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 18

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 3 months

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V3-V4

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances

Statistical test: ANOSIM; LEfSe; Spearman Correlation

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: No

LDA Score above Threshold for the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) score for studies using the popular LEfSe tool: 2

Matched on Factors on which subjects have been matched on in a case-control study: age, body mass index

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: decreased

Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness: unchanged

Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness: increased

Richness Number of species: unchanged

Faith Phylogenetic diversity, takes into account phylogenetic distance of all taxa identified in a sample: unchanged

Experiment 2

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Mark reviewed

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Curated date: 2025/03/29

Curator: Inisimeon

Revision editor(s): Inisimeon

Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: pre-FMT

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: post-FMT

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: post-FMT samples from patients who were not cured by FMT.