A clinical trial found that the microbiomes from stool, luminal content, and endoscopic biopsy samples displayed significantly different characteristics. The authors also posited that the microbiome of luminal contents during colonoscopy can predict ulcerative colitis (UC).

The study was published in BMC Gastroenterology. Study co-contributors Dan Kim, MD, and Jun-Young Jung, MD, and their colleagues judged that “colonoscopic luminal content aspiration analysis could determine microbiome differences between patients with UC and the healthy control,” and thereby may be valuable for screening dysbiosis of UC.

The study group included 16 patients with UC (9 men, 7 women; mean age, 52.13 years) and the control group included 15 sex- and age-matched healthy individuals (8 men, 7 women; mean age, 50.93 years). Participants donated a stool sample before a colonoscopy and luminal content and biopsy samples were collected during the procedure. Each sample was analyzed by 16S rRNA-based next-generation sequencing.

The microbiomes of the samples had significantly different alpha and beta diversities. Researchers observed a correlation between stool and luminal contents in the Procrustes test (P = 0.001) and Mantel test (P = 0.0001). The stool microbiome was different between patients with UC and the healthy controls. However, researchers found no difference in the microbiome of luminal content and biopsy samples between the two cohorts. Stool and lavage sample microbiomes predicted UC, with area under the curve values of 0.85 and 0.81, respectively.

The authors acknowledged that the sample size of the study was a limiting factor, and also that the lavage fluid samples were not collected from each part of the intestines, and may not represent the microbiome of the entire intestine.

According to the authors, microbiomes produced by the three sampling methods are significantly different. Additionally, analysis of the luminal contents may be beneficial in screening of dysbiosis of UC.

 

Source: BMC Gastroenterology