Fei Li

The gut microbiota has been linked to cardiovascular diseases. However, the composition and functional capacity of the gut microbiome in relation to cardiovascular diseases have not been systematically examined. Here, we perform a metagenome-wide association study on stools from 218 individuals with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD) and 187 healthy controls. The ACVD gut microbiome deviates from the healthy status by increased abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Streptococcus spp. and, functionally, in the potential for metabolism or transport of several molecules important for cardiovascular health. Although drug treatment represents a confounding factor, ACVD status, and not current drug use, is the major distinguishing feature in this cohort. We identify common themes by comparison with gut microbiome data associated with other cardiometabolic diseases (obesity and type 2 diabetes), with liver cirrhosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Our data represent a comprehensive resource for further investigations on the role of the gut microbiome in promoting or preventing ACVD as well as other related diseases.The gut microbiota may play a role in cardiovascular diseases. Here, the authors perform a metagenome-wide association study on stools from individuals with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and healthy controls, identifying microbial strains and functions associated with the disease.

Reports on bacteria detected in maternal fluids during pregnancy are typically associated with adverse consequences, and whether the female reproductive tract harbours distinct microbial communities beyond the vagina has been a matter of debate. Here we systematically sample the microbiota within the female reproductive tract in 110 women of reproductive age, and examine the nature of colonisation by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and cultivation. We find distinct microbial communities in cervical canal, uterus, fallopian tubes and peritoneal fluid, differing from that of the vagina. The results reflect a microbiota continuum along the female reproductive tract, indicative of a non-sterile environment. We also identify microbial taxa and potential functions that correlate with the menstrual cycle or are over-represented in subjects with adenomyosis or infertility due to endometriosis. The study provides insight into the nature of the vagino-uterine microbiome, and suggests that surveying the vaginal or cervical microbiota might be useful for detection of common diseases in the upper reproductive tract.Whether the female reproductive tract harbours distinct microbiomes beyond the vagina has been a matter of debate. Here, the authors show a subject-specific continuity in microbial communities at six sites along the female reproductive tract, indicative of a non-sterile environment.

BACKGROUND: Early treatment is key for optimizing the therapeutic success of drugs, and the current initiating treatment that blocks the progression of bone destruction during the pre-arthritic stages remains unsatisfactory. The microbial disorder in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is significantly reversed with effective treatment. Modulating aberrant gut microbiomes into a healthy state is a potential therapeutic approach for preventing bone damage. RESULTS: By using metagenomic shotgun sequencing and a metagenome-wide association study, we assessed the effect of Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) on the induction of arthritis as well as on the associated gut microbiota and immune disorders in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) rats. Treatment of AIA rats with L. casei inhibited joint swelling, lowered arthritis scores, and prevented bone destruction. Along with the relief of arthritis symptoms, dysbiosis in the microbiome of arthritic rats was significantly reduced after L. casei intervention. The relative abundance of AIA-decreased Lactobacillus strains, including Lactobacillus hominis, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus vaginalis, were restored to normal and Lactobacillus acidophilus was upregulated by the administration of L. casei to the AIA rats. Moreover, L. casei downregulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are closely linked to the effect of the L. casei treatment-associated microbes. Functionally, the maintenance of the redox balance of oxidative stress was involved in the improvement in the L. casei-treated AIA rats. CONCLUSION: A single bacterium, L. casei (ATCC334), was able to significantly suppress the induction of AIA and protect bones from destruction in AIA rats by restoring the microbiome dysbiosis in the gut, indicating that using probiotics may be a promising strategy for treating RA, especially in the early stage of the disease.

Background: The human uterus is traditionally believed to be sterile, while the vaginal microbiota plays an important role in fending off pathogens. Emerging evidence demonstrates the presence of bacteria beyond the vagina. However, a microbiome-wide metagenomic analysis characterizing the diverse microbial communities has been lacking. Results: We performed shotgun-sequencing of 52 samples from the cervical canal and the peritoneal fluid of Chinese women of reproductive age using the Illumina platform. Direct annotation of sequencing reads identified the taxonomy of bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses, confirming and extending the results from our previous study. We replicated our previous findings in another 24 samples from the vagina, the cervical canal, the uterus and the peritoneal fluid using the BGISEQ-500 platform revealing that microorganisms in the samples from the same individuals were largely shared in the entire reproductive tract. Human sequences made up more than 99% of the 20GB raw data. After filtering, vaginal microorganisms were well covered in the generated reproductive tract gene catalogue, while the more diverse upper reproductive tract microbiota would require greater depth of sequencing and more samples to meet the full coverage scale. Conclusions: We provide novel detailed data on the microbial composition of a largely unchartered body site, the female reproductive tract. Our results indicated the presence of an intra-individual continuum of microorganisms that gradually changed from the vagina to the peritoneal fluid. This study also provides a framework for understanding the implications of the composition and functional potential of the distinct microbial ecosystems of the female reproductive tract in relation to health and disease.