Giuseppe
Emeritus
[Source: PLoS ONE, full text: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
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Disruption of the Human Gut Microbiota following Norovirus Infection
Adam M. Nelson<SUP>1</SUP><SUP>,</SUP><SUP>2</SUP><SUP>*</SUP>, Seth T. Walk<SUP>2</SUP>, Stefan Taube<SUP>3</SUP>, Mami Taniuchi<SUP>4</SUP>, Eric R. Houpt<SUP>4</SUP>, Christiane E. Wobus<SUP>3</SUP>, Vincent B. Young<SUP>2</SUP><SUP>,</SUP><SUP>3</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
1 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 3 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 4 Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
Abstract
The gut microbiota, the collection of all bacterial members in the intestinal tract, plays a key role in health. Disruption of the indigenous microbiota by a variety of stressors, including antibiotic therapy and intestinal infections, is associated with multiple health problems. We sought to determine if infection with Norovirus disrupts the gut microbiota. Barcoded pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA-encoding gene was used to characterize the stool microbiota in Norovirus-infected human patients (n = 38). While the microbiota in most infected patients (n = 31) resembled that seen in uninfected healthy controls, a minority of patients (n = 7) possessed a significantly altered microbiota characterized by reduced relative numbers of Bacteriodetes and a corresponding increase in Proteobacteria. In these patients, the increase in Proteobacteria was due to a single operational taxonomic unit (OTU) of Escherichia coli. We cultured E. coli from Norovirus-infected patients and characterized them using PCR-ribotyping and virulence factor analysis. Multiple ribotypes were encountered, but none possessed typical virulence factors commonly carried by enteropathogenic E. coli strains. Microbiota disruption and elevated Proteobacteria were not significantly correlated to patient age, gender, sampling time following illness onset, or overall gut inflammation. These results demonstrate that some patients have a disrupted microbiota following Norovirus infection, and therefore may be at elevated risk for long-term health complications.
Citation: Nelson AM, Walk ST, Taube S, Taniuchi M, Houpt ER, et al. (2012) Disruption of the Human Gut Microbiota following Norovirus Infection. PLoS ONE 7(10): e48224. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048224
Editor: Yolanda Sanz, Instutite of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, Spain
Received: May 30, 2012; Accepted: September 21, 2012; Published: October 30, 2012
Copyright: ? 2012 Nelson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This study was supported by Award Number 5 U01 AI075396 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to V.B.Y., the University of Michigan T32 Pulmonary training grant to A.M.N., the Biological Sciences Scholars Program and start-up funds from the University of Michigan to C.E.W. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: nelso222@gmail.com
-Adam M. Nelson<SUP>1</SUP><SUP>,</SUP><SUP>2</SUP><SUP>*</SUP>, Seth T. Walk<SUP>2</SUP>, Stefan Taube<SUP>3</SUP>, Mami Taniuchi<SUP>4</SUP>, Eric R. Houpt<SUP>4</SUP>, Christiane E. Wobus<SUP>3</SUP>, Vincent B. Young<SUP>2</SUP><SUP>,</SUP><SUP>3</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
1 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 3 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, 4 Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America
Abstract
The gut microbiota, the collection of all bacterial members in the intestinal tract, plays a key role in health. Disruption of the indigenous microbiota by a variety of stressors, including antibiotic therapy and intestinal infections, is associated with multiple health problems. We sought to determine if infection with Norovirus disrupts the gut microbiota. Barcoded pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA-encoding gene was used to characterize the stool microbiota in Norovirus-infected human patients (n = 38). While the microbiota in most infected patients (n = 31) resembled that seen in uninfected healthy controls, a minority of patients (n = 7) possessed a significantly altered microbiota characterized by reduced relative numbers of Bacteriodetes and a corresponding increase in Proteobacteria. In these patients, the increase in Proteobacteria was due to a single operational taxonomic unit (OTU) of Escherichia coli. We cultured E. coli from Norovirus-infected patients and characterized them using PCR-ribotyping and virulence factor analysis. Multiple ribotypes were encountered, but none possessed typical virulence factors commonly carried by enteropathogenic E. coli strains. Microbiota disruption and elevated Proteobacteria were not significantly correlated to patient age, gender, sampling time following illness onset, or overall gut inflammation. These results demonstrate that some patients have a disrupted microbiota following Norovirus infection, and therefore may be at elevated risk for long-term health complications.
Citation: Nelson AM, Walk ST, Taube S, Taniuchi M, Houpt ER, et al. (2012) Disruption of the Human Gut Microbiota following Norovirus Infection. PLoS ONE 7(10): e48224. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0048224
Editor: Yolanda Sanz, Instutite of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, Spain
Received: May 30, 2012; Accepted: September 21, 2012; Published: October 30, 2012
Copyright: ? 2012 Nelson et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This study was supported by Award Number 5 U01 AI075396 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to V.B.Y., the University of Michigan T32 Pulmonary training grant to A.M.N., the Biological Sciences Scholars Program and start-up funds from the University of Michigan to C.E.W. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: nelso222@gmail.com
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