Stoll M L, Kumar R, Lefkowitz E J, Cron R Q, Morrow C D, Barnes S
Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Birmingham, AL, USA.
Department of Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, UAB, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Genes Immun. 2016 Dec;17(7):400-405. doi: 10.1038/gene.2016.38. Epub 2016 Oct 27.
We have previously shown alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota in children with enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA). To explore the mechanisms by which an altered microbiota might predispose to arthritis, we performed metabolomic profiling of fecal samples of children with ERA. Fecal samples were collected from two cohorts of children with ERA and healthy control subjects. Nano-liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) was performed on the fecal water homogenates with identification based upon mass: charge ratios. Sequencing of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) on the same stool specimens was performed. In both sets of subjects, patients demonstrated lower diversity of ions and under-representation of multiple metabolic pathways, including the tryptophan metabolism pathway. For example, in the first cohort, out of 1500 negatively charged ions, 154 were lower in ERA patients, compared with only one that was higher. Imputed functional annotation of the 16S ribosomal DNA sequence data demonstrated significantly fewer microbial genes associated with metabolic processes in the patients compared with the controls (77 million versus 58 million, P=0.050). Diminished metabolic diversity and alterations in the tryptophan metabolism pathway may be a feature of ERA.
我们之前已表明，附着点炎相关关节炎（ERA）患儿的肠道微生物群组成存在改变。为探究微生物群改变可能导致关节炎的机制，我们对ERA患儿的粪便样本进行了代谢组学分析。粪便样本采集自两组ERA患儿及健康对照受试者。对粪便水匀浆进行了纳升液相色谱 - 质谱联用（LC - MS）分析，并根据质荷比进行鉴定。对同一粪便标本进行了16S核糖体DNA（rDNA）测序。在两组受试者中，患者均表现出离子多样性降低以及多种代谢途径的表达不足，包括色氨酸代谢途径。例如，在第一个队列中，在1500个带负电荷的离子中，ERA患者中有154个离子含量较低，而只有1个离子含量较高。对16S核糖体DNA序列数据的推断功能注释表明，与对照组相比，患者中与代谢过程相关的微生物基因明显较少（7700万个对5800万个，P = 0.050）。代谢多样性降低和色氨酸代谢途径改变可能是ERA的一个特征。
