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Molecular Brain
Published in: Molecular Brain 1/2023

Open Access 01-12-2023 | Respiratory Microbiota | Research

The gut microbiota and metabolite profiles are altered in patients with spinal cord injury

Authors: Ganggang Kong, Wenwu Zhang, Siyun Zhang, Jiewen Chen, kejun He, Changming Zhang, Xi Yuan, Baoshu Xie

Published in: Molecular Brain | Issue 1/2023

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Abstract

Background

Metabolites secreted by the gut microbiota may play an essential role in microbiota–gut–central nervous system crosstalk. In this study, we explored the changes occurring in the gut microbiota and their metabolites in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and analyzed the correlations among them.

Methods

The structure and composition of the gut microbiota derived from fecal samples collected from patients with SCI (n = 11) and matched control individuals (n = 10) were evaluated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Additionally, an untargeted metabolomics approach was used to compare the serum metabolite profiles of both groups. Meanwhile, the association among serum metabolites, the gut microbiota, and clinical parameters (including injury duration and neurological grade) was also analyzed. Finally, metabolites with the potential for use in the treatment of SCI were identified based on the differential metabolite abundance analysis.

Results

The composition of the gut microbiota was different between patients with SCI and healthy controls. At the genus level, compared with the control group, the abundance of UBA1819, Anaerostignum, Eggerthella, and Enterococcus was significantly increased in the SCI group, whereas that of Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Escherichia–Shigella, Agathobacter, Collinsella, Dorea, Ruminococcus, Fusicatenibacter, and Eubacterium was decreased. Forty-one named metabolites displayed significant differential abundance between SCI patients and healthy controls, including 18 that were upregulated and 23 that were downregulated. Correlation analysis further indicated that the variation in gut microbiota abundance was associated with changes in serum metabolite levels, suggesting that gut dysbiosis is an important cause of metabolic disorders in SCI. Finally, gut dysbiosis and serum metabolite dysregulation was found to be associated with injury duration and severity of motor dysfunction after SCI.

Conclusions

We present a comprehensive landscape of the gut microbiota and metabolite profiles in patients with SCI and provide evidence that their interaction plays a role in the pathogenesis of SCI. Furthermore, our findings suggested that uridine, hypoxanthine, PC(18:2/0:0), and kojic acid may be important therapeutic targets for the treatment of this condition.
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Metadata
Title
The gut microbiota and metabolite profiles are altered in patients with spinal cord injury
Authors
Ganggang Kong
Wenwu Zhang
Siyun Zhang
Jiewen Chen
kejun He
Changming Zhang
Xi Yuan
Baoshu Xie
Publication date
01-12-2023
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Molecular Brain / Issue 1/2023
Electronic ISSN: 1756-6606
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-023-01014-0

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