High Abundance of genus Prevotella in the gut of perinatally HIV-infected children is associated with IP-10 levels despite therapy

Abstract

Perinatal HIV infection is characterized by faster HIV disease progression and higher initial rate of HIV replication compared to adults. While antiretroviral therapy (ART) has greatly reduced HIV replication to undetectable levels, there is persistent elevated inflammation associated with HIV disease progression. Alteration of gut microbiota is associated with increased inflammation in chronic adult HIV infection. Here, we aim to study the gut microbiome and its role in inflammation in treated and untreated HIV-infected children. Examination of fecal microbiota revealed that perinatally infected children living with HIV had significantly higher levels of genus Prevotella that persisted despite ART. These children also had higher levels of soluble CD14 (sCD14), a marker of microbial translocation, and IP-10 despite therapy. The Prevotella positively correlated with IP-10 levels in both treated and untreated HIV-infected children, while genus Prevotella and species Prevotella copri was inversely associated with CD4 count. Relative abundance of genus Prevotella and species Prevotella copri showed positive correlation with sCD14 in ART-suppressed perinatally HIV-infected children. Our study suggests that gut microbiota may serve as one of the driving forces behind the persistent inflammation in children despite ART. Reshaping of microbiota using probiotics may be recommended as an adjunctive therapy along with ART.

Alterations in Circulating Fatty Acid Are Associated With Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Inflammation in Multiple Sclerosis

“…CD4+/IL-17+ T lymphocytes were negatively correlated with Coprococcus, a bacteria known to be depleted in MS patients (72) and recognized as a beneficial commensal taxon, but correlated positively with Prevotella, whose role on the host physiology is instead more controversial. Some studies point in fact to its pro-inflammatory role in autoimmune diseases (73)(74)(75), while a very recent work indicates that Prevotella histicola can suppress EAE as efficiently as the disease-modifying drug Copaxone (76). This stresses the need for species-level analysis in future microbiome-based studies.…”

Incomplete immune reconstitution in HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy: Challenges of immunological non-responders

“…also found that the abundance of Prevotella was significantly higher in perinatal HIV‐1‐infected children than in uninfected controls despite ART. The relative abundance of Prevotella positively correlated with the levels of IP‐10 and sCD14, a marker of monocyte activation and microbial translocation, and was inversely associated with the CD4 + T‐cell count . In addition, Dillon et al.…”

Cannabis and the Gut–Brain Axis Communication in HIV Infection

“…The relative abundance of Prevotella is positively correlated with CXCL10/IP-10, a proinflammatory and antiangiogenic chemokine, levels and anti-correlated with CD4 + T cells. 45 Another study demonstrated that P. copri levels were positively associated with colonic CD1c + myeloid dendritic cells. 46 Increased Prevotella has been implicated as a potential initiator to disturbance of GBA signaling.…”