Cohabiting with ulcerative colitis patients decreases differences of gut microbiome between healthy individuals and the patients

Abstract

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC), which is characterized by chronic relapsing inflammation of the colon, results from a complex interaction of factors involving the host, environment, and microbiome. The present study aimed to investigate the gut microbial composition and metabolic variations in patients with UC and their spouses. Materials and Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 13 healthy spouses and couples with UC. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and metagenomics sequencing were used to analyze gut microbiota composition, pathways, gene expression, and enzyme activity, followed by the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. Results: We found that the microbiome diversity of couples with UC decreased, especially that of UC patients. Bacterial composition, such as Firmicutes, was altered between UC patients and healthy controls, but was not significantly different between UC patients and their spouses. This has also been observed in pathways, such as metabolism, genetic information processing, organismal systems, and human diseases. However, the genes and enzymes of spouses with UC were not significantly different from those of healthy individuals. Furthermore, the presence of Faecalibacterium correlated with oxidative phosphorylation, starch and sucrose metabolism, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, and the bacterial secretion system, showed a marked decline in the UC group compared with their spouses, but did not vary between healthy couples. Conclusion: Our study revealed that cohabitation with UC patients decreased differences in the gut microbiome between healthy individuals and patients. Not only was the composition and diversity of the microbiota diminished, but active pathways also showed some decline. Furthermore, Firmicutes, Faecalibacterium, and the four related pathways may be associated with the pathological state of the host rather than with human behavior.

Keywords:

• Ulcerative colitis
• gut microbiota
• spouse
• faecalibacterium
• microbiome

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all patients and volunteers who provided fecal samples for this study.

Authors’ contributions

Dr. Chen Li and Xiaoyan Guo performed the data analyses, interpreted the data, and drafted the manuscript. Dr. Xiaoyan Guo recruited patients and collected samples and data. They have contributed equally to this work. Prof. Yan He interpreted the data and consulted the study. Prof. Jing Wang provided support for this experimental study. Prof. Xinjuan Liu and Jianyu Hao proposed the concept and designed the study. All authors assisted in writing and reviewing the manuscript and approved its final version.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that this research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, XL, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82070559 to XL), Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (7174305 to CL), and Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Innovation Team Project of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University (CYDXK202207 to XL). The program 82070559 contributed to the conception of the study and subject recruitment. The program 7174305 and CYDXK202207 performed clinical samples collection and the data analyses.