The Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Early and Late Stages of Diabetic Kidney Disease

• Published in: Microbiology spectrum Vol. 11; no. 4; p. e0038223
• Main Authors: Zhang, Li, Lu, Qi-Yu, Wu, Hao, Cheng, Yan-Li, Kang, Jing, Xu, Zhong-Gao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 17.08.2023
• Subjects: biomarkers; diabetic kidney disease; dysbiosis; gut microbiome; diabetic kidney disease; gut microbiome; biomarkers; dysbiosis
• ISSN: 2165-0497; 2165-0497
• DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00382-23

Many studies have suggested that gut microbiota dysbiosis may be one of the pathogenesis factors of diabetes mellitus (DM), while it is not clear whether it is involved in the development of diabetic kidney diseases (DKD). The objective of this study was to determine bacterial taxa biomarkers during the progression of DKD by investigating bacterial compositional changes in early and late DKD. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on fecal samples, including the diabetes mellitus (DM), DNa (early DKD), and DNb (late DKD) groups. Taxonomic annotation of microbial composition was performed. Samples were sequenced on the Illumina NovaSeq platform. At the genus level, we found counts of , , and were significantly elevated both in the DNa group ( 0.0001, 0.0007, and 0.0174, respectively) and the DNb group ( 0.0001, 0.0012, and 0.0003, respectively) compared with those in the DM group. Only the level of was significantly decreased in the DNa group than the DM group and in the DNb group than the DNa group. Counts of , were significantly decreased in the DNa group compared with those in the DM group ( 0.001 and 0.006, respectively) and in the DNb group compared with those in the DM group ( 0.0001 and 0.003, respectively). Levels of , and were positively correlated with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), but negatively correlated with microalbuminuria (MAU), 24 h urinary protein quantity (24hUP), and serum creatinine (Scr). Moreover, the areas under the curve (AUCs) of and were 83.33% and 80.77%, respectively, for the DM and DNa cohorts, respectively. Notably, the largest AUC for DNa and DNb cohorts was also that of at 83.60%. Gut microbiota dysbiosis was found in the early and late stages of DKD, especially in the early stage. may be the most promising intestinal bacteria biomarker that can help distinguish different stages of DKD. It is not clear as to whether gut microbiota dysbiosis is involved in the progression of DKD. This study may be the first to explore gut microbiota compositional changes in diabetes, early-DKD, and late DKD. We identify different gut microbial characteristics during different stages of DKD. Gut microbiota dysbiosis is found in the early and late stages of DKD. may be the most promising intestinal bacteria biomarker that can help distinguish different stages of DKD, although further studies are warranted to illustrate these mechanisms.