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Erhardt R, Steels E, Harnett JE, Taing MW, Steadman KJ. Effects of a prebiotic formulation on the composition of the faecal microbiota of people with functional constipation. Eur J Nutr 2024; 63:777-784. [PMID: 38165420 DOI: 10.1007/s00394-023-03292-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE Prebiotics are defined as substances which selectively promote beneficial gut microbes leading to a health benefit for the host. Limited trials have been carried out investigating their effect on the microbiota composition of individuals afflicted by functional constipation with equivocal outcomes. In a 21-day randomised, controlled clinical trial involving 61 adults with functional constipation, a prebiotic formulation with partially hydrolysed guar gum and acacia gum as its main ingredients, significantly increased complete spontaneous bowel motions in the treatment group. This follow-up exploratory analysis investigated whether the prebiotic was associated with changes to the composition, richness, and diversity of the faecal microbiota. METHODS Participants provided a faecal specimen at baseline and on day 21 of the intervention period. Whole genome metagenomic shotgun sequencing comprehensively assessed taxonomic and functional composition of the microbiota. RESULTS Linear mixed effects regression models adjusted for potential confounders showed a significant reduction in species richness of 28.15 species (95% CI - 49.86, - 6.43) and Shannon diversity of 0.29 units (95% CI - 0.56, - 0.02) over the trial period in the prebiotic group. These changes were not observed in the control group, and functional composition was unchanged in both groups. CONCLUSION In adults with functional constipation, the intake of a prebiotic formulation was associated with a decline of species richness and Shannon diversity. Further research regarding the associations between prebiotics and the composition and function of the gut microbiota is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rene Erhardt
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street , Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia.
| | - Elizabeth Steels
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Evidence Sciences Pty. Ltd., New Farm, Australia
| | | | - Meng-Wong Taing
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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Crichton M, Marshall S, Marx W, Isenring E, Vázquez-Campos X, Dawson SL, Lohning A. Effect of Ginger Root Powder on Gastrointestinal Bacteria Composition, Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Mental Health, Fatigue, and Quality of Life: A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial. J Nutr 2023; 153:3193-3206. [PMID: 37690779 DOI: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite compositional alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota being purported to underpin some of the therapeutic effects of ginger, the effect of a standardized ginger supplement on gut microbiota has not been tested in humans. OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of a standardized ginger (Zingiber officinale) root powder, compared to placebo, on gastrointestinal bacteria and associated outcomes in healthy adults. METHODS A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial allocated participants aged 18 to 30 y to ginger or microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) placebo. The intervention comprised 1.2 g/d of ginger (4 capsules per day totaling 84 mg/d of active gingerols/shogaols) for 14 d following a 1-wk run-in period. Primary outcomes were gastrointestinal community composition, alpha and beta diversity, and differential abundance, measured using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples. Secondary outcomes were gastrointestinal symptoms, bowel function, depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue, quality of life, and adverse events. RESULTS Fifty-one participants were enrolled and analyzed (71% female; mean age 25 ± 3 y; ginger: n = 29, placebo: n = 22). There was a greater increase in relative abundance of phylum, Actinobacteria, observed following ginger supplementation compared to placebo (U: 145.0; z: -2.1; P = 0.033). Ginger was associated with a greater abundance of the genera Parabacteroides, Bacillus, Ruminococcaceae incertae sedis, unclassified Bacilli, families Defluviitaleaceae, Morganellaceae, and Bacillaceae as well as lower abundance of the genus Blautia and family Sphingomonadaceae (P < 0.05). An improvement in indigestion symptoms was observed with ginger supplementation (U: 196.0; z: -2.4; P = 0.015). No differences between ginger and placebo groups were found for alpha and beta diversity or other secondary outcomes. No moderate or severe adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS Supplementation with ginger root powder was safe and altered aspects of gastrointestinal bacteria composition; however, it did not change alpha- or beta diversity, bowel function, gastrointestinal symptoms, mood, or quality of life in healthy adults. These results provide further understanding regarding the mechanisms of action of ginger supplementation. This trial was registered in the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry as ACTRN12620000302954p and the Therapeutic Goods Administration as CT-2020-CTN-00380-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Crichton
- Bond University Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia.
| | - Skye Marshall
- Bond University Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; Research Institute for Future Health, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Wolfgang Marx
- Bond University Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia; Deakin University, Food & Mood Centre, IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Isenring
- Bond University Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Xabier Vázquez-Campos
- NSW Systems Biology Initiative, School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Samantha L Dawson
- Deakin University, Food & Mood Centre, IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| | - Anna Lohning
- Bond University Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
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Ward AB, Harris PA, Argo CM, Watson C, Neacsu M, Russell WR, Ribeiro A, Collie-Duguid E, Heidari Z, Morrison PK. Homemade Nucleic Acid Preservation Buffer Proves Effective in Preserving the Equine Faecal Microbiota over Time at Ambient Temperatures. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3107. [PMID: 37835713 PMCID: PMC10572018 DOI: 10.3390/ani13193107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The equine faecal microbiota is often assessed as a proxy of the microbial community in the distal colon, where the microbiome has been linked to states of health and disease in the horse. However, the microbial community structure may change over time if samples are not adequately preserved. This study stored equine faecal samples from n = 10 horses in four preservation treatments at room temperature for up to 150 h and assessed the resulting impact on microbial diversity and the differential abundance of taxa. Treatments included "COLD" (samples packaged with a cool pack), "CLX" (2% chlorhexidine digluconate solution), "NAP" (nucleic acid preservation buffer), and "FTA" (Whatman FTA™ cards). The samples were assessed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing after storage for 0, 24, 72, and 150 h at room temperature under the different treatments. The results showed effective preservation of diversity and community structure with NAP buffer but lower diversity (p = 0.001) and the under-representation of Fibrobacterota in the FTA card samples. The NAP treatment inhibited the overgrowth of bloom taxa that occurred by 72 h at room temperature. The COLD, CLX, and NAP treatments were effective in preserving the faecal microbiota for up to 24 h at room temperature, and the CLX and NAP treatments improved the yield of Patescibacteria and Fibrobacterota in some cases. The cold and CLX treatments were ineffective in preventing community shifts that occurred by 72 h at room temperature. These findings demonstrate the suitability of the COLD, NAP, and CLX treatments for the room temperature storage of equine faeces for up to 24 h and of NAP buffer for up to 150 h prior to processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley B. Ward
- School of Veterinary Medicine, Scotland’s Rural College, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK
- The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
- School of Medicine Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Patricia A. Harris
- Equine Studies Group, Waltham Petcare Science Institute, Leicestershire LE14 4RT, UK
| | - Caroline McG. Argo
- School of Veterinary Medicine, Scotland’s Rural College, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK
| | - Christine Watson
- Department of Rural Land Use, Scotland’s Rural College, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK
| | - Madalina Neacsu
- The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Wendy R. Russell
- The Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
| | - Antonio Ribeiro
- School of Medicine Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
- Centre for Genome-Enabled Biology and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK
| | - Elaina Collie-Duguid
- School of Medicine Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
- Centre for Genome-Enabled Biology and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK
| | - Zeynab Heidari
- School of Medicine Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK
- Centre for Genome-Enabled Biology and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK
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Fachrul M, Méric G, Inouye M, Pamp SJ, Salim A. Assessing and removing the effect of unwanted technical variations in microbiome data. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22236. [PMID: 36564466 PMCID: PMC9789116 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26141-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Varying technologies and experimental approaches used in microbiome studies often lead to irreproducible results due to unwanted technical variations. Such variations, often unaccounted for and of unknown source, may interfere with true biological signals, resulting in misleading biological conclusions. In this work, we aim to characterize the major sources of technical variations in microbiome data and demonstrate how in-silico approaches can minimize their impact. We analyzed 184 pig faecal metagenomes encompassing 21 specific combinations of deliberately introduced factors of technical and biological variations. Using the novel Removing Unwanted Variations-III-Negative Binomial (RUV-III-NB), we identified several known experimental factors, specifically storage conditions and freeze-thaw cycles, as likely major sources of unwanted variation in metagenomes. We also observed that these unwanted technical variations do not affect taxa uniformly, with freezing samples affecting taxa of class Bacteroidia the most, for example. Additionally, we benchmarked the performances of different correction methods, including ComBat, ComBat-seq, RUVg, RUVs, and RUV-III-NB. While RUV-III-NB performed consistently robust across our sensitivity and specificity metrics, most other methods did not remove unwanted variations optimally. Our analyses suggest that a careful consideration of possible technical confounders is critical during experimental design of microbiome studies, and that the inclusion of technical replicates is necessary to efficiently remove unwanted variations computationally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhamad Fachrul
- grid.1051.50000 0000 9760 5620Cambridge Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia ,grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XDepartment of Clinical Pathology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia
| | - Guillaume Méric
- grid.1051.50000 0000 9760 5620Cambridge Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia ,grid.1002.30000 0004 1936 7857Department of Infectious Diseases, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia
| | - Michael Inouye
- grid.1051.50000 0000 9760 5620Cambridge Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia ,grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XDepartment of Clinical Pathology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia ,grid.5335.00000000121885934Cambridge Baker Systems Genomics Initiative, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.5335.00000000121885934British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.5335.00000000121885934British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK ,grid.5335.00000000121885934Health Data Research UK Cambridge, Wellcome Genome Campus and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sünje Johanna Pamp
- grid.5170.30000 0001 2181 8870National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark ,grid.5170.30000 0001 2181 8870Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Agus Salim
- grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XCentre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia ,grid.1008.90000 0001 2179 088XSchool of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia ,grid.1051.50000 0000 9760 5620Department of Population Health, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Australia ,grid.1018.80000 0001 2342 0938Department Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC 3086 Australia
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Biclot A, Huys GRB, Bacigalupe R, D’hoe K, Vandeputte D, Falony G, Tito RY, Raes J. Effect of cryopreservation medium conditions on growth and isolation of gut anaerobes from human faecal samples. MICROBIOME 2022; 10:80. [PMID: 35644616 PMCID: PMC9150342 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-022-01267-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Novel strategies for anaerobic bacterial isolations from human faecal samples and various initiatives to generate culture collections of gut-derived bacteria have instigated considerable interest for the development of novel microbiota-based treatments. Early in the process of building a culture collection, optimal faecal sample preservation is essential to safeguard the viability of the broadest taxonomic diversity range possible. In contrast to the much more established faecal storage conditions for meta-omics applications, the impact of stool sample preservation conditions on bacterial growth recovery and isolation remains largely unexplored. In this study, aliquoted faecal samples from eleven healthy human volunteers selected based on a range of physicochemical and microbiological gradients were cryopreserved at - 80 °C either without the addition of any medium (dry condition) or in different Cary-Blair medium conditions with or without a cryoprotectant, i.e. 20% (v/v) glycerol or 5% (v/v) DMSO. Faecal aliquots were subjected to bulk 16S rRNA gene sequencing as well as dilution plating on modified Gifu Anaerobic Medium after preservation for culturable fraction profiling and generation of bacterial culture collections. RESULTS Analyses of compositional variation showed that cryopreservation medium conditions affected quantitative recovery but not the overall community composition of cultured fractions. Post-preservation sample dilution and richness of the uncultured source samples were the major drivers of the cultured fraction richness at genus level. However, preservation conditions differentially affected recovery of specific genera. Presence-absence analysis indicated that twenty-two of the 45 most abundant common genera (>0.01% abundance, dilution 10-4) were recovered in cultured fractions from all preservation conditions, while nine genera were only detected in fractions from a single preservation condition. Overall, the highest number of common genera (i.e. 35/45) in cultured fractions were recovered from sample aliquots preserved without medium and in the presence of Cary-Blair medium containing 5% (v/v) DMSO. Also, in the culture collection generated from the cultured fractions, these two preservation conditions yielded the highest species richness (72 and 66, respectively). CONCLUSION Our results demonstrate that preservation methods partly determine richness and taxonomic diversity of gut anaerobes recovered from faecal samples. Complementing the current standard practice of cryopreserving stool samples in dry conditions with other preservation conditions, such as Cary-Blair medium with DMSO, could increase the species diversity of gut-associated culture collections. Video abstract.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Biclot
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Geert R. B. Huys
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Rodrigo Bacigalupe
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kevin D’hoe
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group of Microbiology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Doris Vandeputte
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
- Research Group of Microbiology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
- Present address: Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell, USA
| | - Gwen Falony
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Raul Y. Tito
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jeroen Raes
- Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- Center for Microbiology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium
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6
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Hua H, Meydan C, Afshin EE, Lili LN, D’Adamo CR, Rickard N, Dudley JT, Price ND, Zhang B, Mason CE. A Wipe-Based Stool Collection and Preservation Kit for Microbiome Community Profiling. Front Immunol 2022; 13:889702. [PMID: 35711426 PMCID: PMC9196042 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.889702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While a range of methods for stool collection exist, many require complicated, self-directed protocols and stool transfer. In this study, we introduce and validate a novel, wipe-based approach to fecal sample collection and stabilization for metagenomics analysis. A total of 72 samples were collected across four different preservation types: freezing at -20°C, room temperature storage, a commercial DNA preservation kit, and a dissolvable wipe used with DESS (dimethyl sulfoxide, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, sodium chloride) solution. These samples were sequenced and analyzed for taxonomic abundance metrics, bacterial metabolic pathway classification, and diversity analysis. Overall, the DESS wipe results validated the use of a wipe-based capture method to collect stool samples for microbiome analysis, showing an R2 of 0.96 for species across all kingdoms, as well as exhibiting a maintenance of Shannon diversity (3.1-3.3) and species richness (151-159) compared to frozen samples. Moreover, DESS showed comparable performance to the commercially available preservation kit (R2 of 0.98), and samples consistently clustered by subject across each method. These data support that the DESS wipe method can be used for stable, room temperature collection and transport of human stool specimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Hua
- Thorne HealthTech, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Hui Hua, ; Christopher E. Mason,
| | - Cem Meydan
- Thorne HealthTech, New York, NY, United States
| | | | | | - Christopher R. D’Adamo
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | | | | | - Nathan D. Price
- Thorne HealthTech, New York, NY, United States
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Bodi Zhang
- Thorne HealthTech, New York, NY, United States
| | - Christopher E. Mason
- Thorne HealthTech, New York, NY, United States
- The WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Hui Hua, ; Christopher E. Mason,
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Boix-Amorós A, Piras E, Bu K, Wallach D, Stapylton M, Fernández-Sesma A, Malaspina D, Clemente JC. Viral Inactivation Impacts Microbiome Estimates in a Tissue-Specific Manner. mSystems 2021; 6:e0067421. [PMID: 34609165 PMCID: PMC8547476 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00674-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The global emergence of novel pathogenic viruses presents an important challenge for research, as high biosafety levels are required to process samples. While inactivation of infectious agents facilitates the use of less stringent safety conditions, its effect on other biological entities of interest present in the sample is generally unknown. Here, we analyzed the effect of five inactivation methods (heat, ethanol, formaldehyde, psoralen, and TRIzol) on microbiome composition and diversity in samples collected from four different body sites (gut, nasal, oral, and skin) and compared them against untreated samples from the same tissues. We performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing and estimated abundance and diversity of bacterial taxa present in all samples. Nasal and skin samples were the most affected by inactivation, with ethanol and TRIzol inducing the largest changes in composition, and heat, formaldehyde, TRIzol, and psoralen inducing the largest changes in diversity. Oral and stool microbiomes were more robust to inactivation, with no significant changes in diversity and only moderate changes in composition. Firmicutes was the taxonomic group least affected by inactivation, while Bacteroidetes had a notable enrichment in nasal samples and moderate enrichment in fecal and oral samples. Actinobacteria were more notably depleted in fecal and skin samples, and Proteobacteria exhibited a more variable behavior depending on sample type and inactivation method. Overall, our results demonstrate that inactivation methods can alter the microbiome in a tissue-specific manner and that careful consideration should be given to the choice of method based on the sample type under study. IMPORTANCE Understanding how viral infections impact and are modulated by the microbiome is an important problem in basic research but is also of high clinical relevance under the current pandemic. To facilitate the study of interactions between microbial communities and pathogenic viruses under safe conditions, the infectious agent is generally inactivated prior to processing samples. The effect of this inactivation process in the microbiome is, however, unknown. Further, it is unclear whether biases introduced by inactivation methods are dependent on the sample type under study. Estimating the magnitude and nature of the changes induced by different methods in samples collected from various body sites thus provides important information for current and future studies that require inactivation of pathogenic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alba Boix-Amorós
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Precision Immunology Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Enrica Piras
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Precision Immunology Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Kevin Bu
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - David Wallach
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Matthew Stapylton
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Ana Fernández-Sesma
- Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. New York, New York, USA
| | - Dolores Malaspina
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. New York, New York, USA
| | - Jose C. Clemente
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Precision Immunology Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
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