Exploring the gut microbiota in patients with pre-diabetes and treatment naïve diabetes type 2 - a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Compared to their healthy counterparts, patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) can exhibit an altered gut microbiota composition, correlated with detrimental outcomes, including reduced insulin sensitivity, dyslipidemia, and increased markers of inflammation. However, a typical T2D microbiota profile is not established. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the gut microbiota and bacteria associated with prediabetes (pre-T2D) patients, and treatment naïve T2D patients, compared to healthy subjects. METHODS: Fecal samples were collected from patients and healthy subjects (from Norway). The bacterial genomic DNA was extracted, and the microbiota analyzed utilizing the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. To secure a broad coverage of potential T2D associated bacteria, two technologies were used: The GA-map® 131-plex, utilizing 131 DNA probes complementary to pre-selected bacterial targets (covering the 16S regions V3-V9), and the LUMI-Seq™ platform, a full-length 16S sequencing technology (V1-V9). Variations in the gut microbiota between groups were explored using multivariate methods, differential bacterial abundance was estimated, and microbiota signatures discriminating the groups were assessed using classification models. RESULTS: In total, 24 pre-T2D patients, 18 T2D patients, and 52 healthy subjects were recruited. From the LUMI-Seq™ analysis, 10 and 9 bacterial taxa were differentially abundant between pre-T2D and healthy, and T2D and healthy, respectively. From the GA-map® 131-plex analysis, 10 bacterial markers were differentially abundant when comparing pre-T2D and healthy. Several of the bacteria were short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) producers or typical opportunistic bacteria. Bacteria with similar function or associated properties also contributed to the separation of pre-T2D and T2D from healthy as found by classification models. However, limited overlap was found for specific bacterial genera and species. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study revealed that differences in the abundance of SCFA producing bacteria, and an increase in typical opportunistic bacteria, may contribute to the variations in the microbiota separating the pre-T2D and T2D patients from healthy subjects. However, further efforts in investigating the relationship between gut microbiota, diabetes, and associated factors such as BMI, are needed for developing specific diabetes microbiota signatures.

Oxidant-induced modifications in the mucosal transcriptome and circulating metabolome of Atlantic salmon.

Here we report the molecular networks associated with the mucosal and systemic responses to peracetic acid (PAA), a candidate oxidative chemotherapeutic in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Smolts were exposed to different therapeutic doses (0, 0.6 and 2.4 mg/L) of PAA for 5 min, followed by a re-exposure to the same concentrations for 30 min 2 weeks later. PAA-exposed groups have higher external welfare score alterations, especially 2 weeks after the re-exposure. Cases of fin damage and scale loss were prevalent in the PAA-exposed groups. Transcriptomic profiling of mucosal tissues revealed that the skin had 12.5 % more differentially regulated genes (DEGs) than the gills following PAA exposure. The largest cluster of DEGs, both in the skin and gills, were involved in tissue extracellular matrix and metabolism. There were 22 DEGs common to both mucosal tissues, which were represented primarily by genes involved in the biophysical integrity of the mucosal barrier, including cadherin, collagen I α 2 chain, mucin-2 and spondin 1a. The absence of significant clustering in the plasma metabolomes amongst the three treatment groups indicates that PAA treatment did not induce any global metabolomic disturbances. Nonetheless, five metabolites with known functions during oxidative stress were remarkably affected by PAA treatments such as citrulline, histidine, tryptophan, methionine and trans-4-hydroxyproline. Collectively, these results indicate that salmon were able to mount mucosal and systemic adaptive responses to therapeutic doses of PAA and that the molecules identified are potential markers for assessing the health and welfare consequences of oxidant exposure.