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. 2014 Feb;52(2):398-406.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.01500-13. Epub 2013 Nov 13.

Increased proportions of Bifidobacterium and the Lactobacillus group and loss of butyrate-producing bacteria in inflammatory bowel disease

Wei Wang  1 , Liping Chen, Rui Zhou, Xiaobing Wang, Lu Song, Sha Huang, Ge Wang, Bing Xia
Affiliations

Increased proportions of Bifidobacterium and the Lactobacillus group and loss of butyrate-producing bacteria in inflammatory bowel disease

Wei Wang et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Dysbiosis in the intestinal microbiota of persons with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been described, but there are still varied reports on changes in the abundance of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus organisms in patients with IBD. The aim of this investigation was to compare the compositions of mucosa-associated and fecal bacteria in patients with IBD and in healthy controls (HCs). Fecal and biopsy samples from 21 HCs, 21 and 15 Crohn's disease (CD) patients, and 34 and 29 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, respectively, were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene. The bacterial numbers were transformed into relative percentages for statistical analysis. The proportions of bacteria were uniformly distributed along the colon regardless of the disease state. Bifidobacterium was significantly increased in the biopsy specimens of active UC patients compared to those in the HCs (4.6% versus 2.1%, P = 0.001), and the proportion of Bifidobacterium was significantly higher in the biopsy specimens than in the fecal samples in active CD patients (2.7% versus 2.0%, P = 0.012). The Lactobacillus group was significantly increased in the biopsy specimens of active CD patients compared to those in the HCs (3.4% versus 2.3%, P = 0.036). Compared to the HCs, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was sharply decreased in both the fecal and biopsy specimens of the active CD patients (0.3% versus 14.0%, P < 0.0001 for fecal samples; 0.8% versus 11.4%, P < 0.0001 for biopsy specimens) and the active UC patients (4.3% versus 14.0%, P = 0.001 for fecal samples; 2.8% versus 11.4%, P < 0.0001 for biopsy specimens). In conclusion, Bifidobacterium and the Lactobacillus group were increased in active IBD patients and should be used more cautiously as probiotics during the active phase of IBD. Butyrate-producing bacteria might be important to gut homeostasis.

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Figures

FIG 1
FIG 1
(a) Quantification of total bacteria in feces; (b) quantification of dominant bacteria in feces. HC, healthy control; ACD, active Crohn's disease; RCD, Crohn's disease in remission; AUC, active ulcerative colitis; RUC, ulcerative colitis in remission.*, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.0001.
FIG 2
FIG 2
Ratios of bacteria in different gut locations and feces. Shown in the upper left graph is the total number of mucosa-associated bacteria at different biopsied locations in different groups. The other five graphs show the dominant probiotic ratios in the feces and different gut locations.
FIG 3
FIG 3
(a) Total mucosa-associated bacteria in different groups. (b) Quantification of dominant bacteria in biopsy specimens. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.0001.
FIG 4
FIG 4
Comparison of the ratios in paired fecal and biopsy samples. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.0001.
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