Zhan Qitao, Qi Xuchen, Weng Ruopeng, Xi Fangfang, Chen Yuan, Wang Yayun, Hu Wen, Zhao Baihui, Luo Qiong
Department of Obstetrics, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021 Apr 30;11:635680. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.635680. eCollection 2021.
Women with severe intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) are at higher risks of fetal complications and without effective treatments. Changes in gut microbiota in pregnancy were found to be related to the altered intestinal bile acid composition, so we aimed to explore the alterations of microbiota in the gut of ICP patients.
A total of 90 women were recruited, including 45 ICP patients and 45 healthy controls. The gut microbiota communities of ICP group were compared to control group through 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. The results were then confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and generalized linear model (GLM). Furthermore, we analyzed the relationships between microbiota and the severity of ICP.
A total of seven genera and nine taxa with differential abundances between the ICP patients and the controls were identified. All of the seven genera were verified through real-time PCR, and three key genera , , and were confirmed by using the GLM model. Further analysis found that the genera , , and were enriched in the severe ICP group, the microbial gene function related to biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and propanoate metabolism were also increased in them.
Overall, our study was the first in Asia to demonstrate an association between gut microbiota and ICP. Our findings would contribute to a better understanding of the occurrence of ICP.
患有重度妊娠期肝内胆汁淤积症（ICP）的女性胎儿出现并发症的风险更高，且缺乏有效的治疗方法。研究发现孕期肠道微生物群的变化与肠道胆汁酸组成的改变有关，因此我们旨在探讨ICP患者肠道微生物群的变化。
共招募了90名女性，其中包括45名ICP患者和45名健康对照者。通过16S核糖体RNA基因测序比较了ICP组和对照组的肠道微生物群。然后通过实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）和广义线性模型（GLM）对结果进行确认。此外，我们分析了微生物群与ICP严重程度之间的关系。
共鉴定出ICP患者和对照组之间丰度有差异的7个属和9个分类单元。通过实时PCR对所有7个属进行了验证，并使用GLM模型确认了3个关键属，即[此处应补充属名]、[此处应补充属名]和[此处应补充属名]。进一步分析发现，[此处应补充属名]、[此处应补充属名]和[此处应补充属名]在重度ICP组中富集，与不饱和脂肪酸生物合成和丙酸代谢相关的微生物基因功能在这些属中也有所增加。
总体而言，我们的研究是亚洲首个证明肠道微生物群与ICP之间存在关联的研究。我们的发现将有助于更好地理解ICP的发生机制。
