Human Gut Microbiota Changes Reveal the Progression of Glucose Intolerance

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 8; p. e71108
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xiuying, Shen, Dongqian, Fang, Zhiwei, Jie, Zhuye, Qiu, Xinmin, Zhang, Chunfang, Chen, Yingli, Ji, Linong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 27.08.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abundance; Analysis of Variance; Bacteria; Bacteroides; Bacteroides - genetics; Bacteroidetes; Bioinformatics; Biology; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - microbiology; Disease Progression; Dysbacteriosis; Endocrinology; Firmicutes; Gastrointestinal Tract - microbiology; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Genomes; Glucose; Glucose Intolerance - microbiology; Glucose Intolerance - pathology; Glucose tolerance; Humans; Insulin resistance; Intestinal microflora; Intolerance; Medicine; Metabolism; Microbial activity; Microbiota; Microbiota - genetics; Microorganisms; Middle Aged; Molecular Typing; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Next-generation sequencing; Obesity; Pathogenesis; Phylogeny; Prediabetic State - microbiology; Principal Component Analysis; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Rodents; rRNA 16S; Studies; Verrucomicrobia - genetics; Beijing China; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071108

To explore the relationship of gut microbiota with the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), we analyzed 121 subjects who were divided into 3 groups based on their glucose intolerance status: normal glucose tolerance (NGT; n = 44), prediabetes (Pre-DM; n = 64), or newly diagnosed T2DM (n = 13). Gut microbiota characterizations were determined with 16S rDNA-based high-throughput sequencing. T2DM-related dysbiosis was observed, including the separation of microbial communities and a change of alpha diversity between the different glucose intolerance statuses. To assess the correlation between metabolic parameters and microbiota diversity, clinical characteristics were also measured and a significant association between metabolic parameters (FPG, CRP) and gut microbiota was found. In addition, a total of 28 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were found to be related to T2DM status by the Kruskal-Wallis H test, most of which were enriched in the T2DM group. Butyrate-producing bacteria (e.g. Akkermansia muciniphila ATCCBAA-835, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii L2-6) had a higher abundance in the NGT group than in the pre-DM group. At genus level, the abundance of Bacteroides in the T2DM group was only half that of the NGT and Pre-DM groups. Previously reported T2DM-related markers were also compared with the data in this study, and some inconsistencies were noted. We found that Verrucomicrobiae may be a potential marker of T2DM as it had a significantly lower abundance in both the pre-DM and T2DM groups. In conclusion, this research provides further evidence of the structural modulation of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of diabetes.