Human gut microbiota changes reveal the progression of glucose intolerance

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 27;8(8):e71108. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071108. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

To explore the relationship of gut microbiota with the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM), we analyzed 121 subjects who were divided into 3 groups based on their glucose intolerance status: normal glucose tolerance (NGT; n = 44), prediabetes (Pre-DM; n = 64), or newly diagnosed T2DM (n = 13). Gut microbiota characterizations were determined with 16S rDNA-based high-throughput sequencing. T2DM-related dysbiosis was observed, including the separation of microbial communities and a change of alpha diversity between the different glucose intolerance statuses. To assess the correlation between metabolic parameters and microbiota diversity, clinical characteristics were also measured and a significant association between metabolic parameters (FPG, CRP) and gut microbiota was found. In addition, a total of 28 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were found to be related to T2DM status by the Kruskal-Wallis H test, most of which were enriched in the T2DM group. Butyrate-producing bacteria (e.g. Akkermansia muciniphila ATCCBAA-835, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii L2-6) had a higher abundance in the NGT group than in the pre-DM group. At genus level, the abundance of Bacteroides in the T2DM group was only half that of the NGT and Pre-DM groups. Previously reported T2DM-related markers were also compared with the data in this study, and some inconsistencies were noted. We found that Verrucomicrobiae may be a potential marker of T2DM as it had a significantly lower abundance in both the pre-DM and T2DM groups. In conclusion, this research provides further evidence of the structural modulation of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of diabetes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Bacteroides / genetics
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / microbiology*
  • Disease Progression
  • Gastrointestinal Tract / microbiology
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Glucose Intolerance / microbiology*
  • Glucose Intolerance / pathology
  • Humans
  • Microbiota / genetics*
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Typing
  • Phylogeny
  • Prediabetic State / microbiology*
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Verrucomicrobia / genetics

Substances

  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Grants and funding

Financial support from the National High Technology Research and Development Program (2006AA02A409). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.