Intestinal Microbiota in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

Human intestinal flora comprises thousands of bacterial species. Growth and composition of intestinal microbiota is dependent on various parameters, including immune mechanisms, dietary factors and intestinal motility. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) frequently display neurogenic bowel dysfunction due to the absence of central nervous system control over the gastrointestinal system. Considering the bowel dysfunction and altered colonic transit time in patients with SCI, we hypothesized the presence of a significant change in the composition of their gut microbiome. The objective of this study was to characterize the gut microbiota in adult SCI patients with different types of bowel dysfunction. We tested our hypothesis on 30 SCI patients (15 upper motor neuron [UMN] bowel syndrome, 15 lower motor neuron [LMN] bowel syndrome) and 10 healthy controls using the 16S rRNA sequencing. Gut microbial patterns were sampled from feces. Independent of study groups, gut microbiota of the participants were dominated by Blautia, Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium and Ruminococcus. When we compared all study groups, Roseburia, Pseudobutyrivibrio, Dialister, Marvinbryantia and Megamonas appeared as the genera that were statistically different between groups. In comparison to the healthy group, total bacterial counts of Pseudobutyrivibrio, Dialister and Megamonas genera were significantly lower in UMN bowel dysfunction group. The total bacterial count of Marvinbryantia genus was significantly lower in UMN bowel dysfunction group when compared to the LMN group. Total bacterial counts of Roseburia, Pseudobutyrivibrio and Megamonas genera were significantly lower in LMN bowel dysfunction group when compared to healthy groups. Our results demonstrate for the first time that butyrate-producing members are specifically reduced in SCI patients when compared to healthy subjects. The results of this study would be of interest since to our knowledge, microbiome-associated studies targeting SCI patients are non-existent and the results might help explain possible implications of gut microbiome in SCI.

Association between small‐intestinal bacterial overgrowth and deep vein thrombosis in patients with spinal cord injuries

“…In addition, the small nunber of positive samples in the two groups (12/37) reduced the validity of our results. SCI patients frequently have neurogenic bowel dysfunction, owing to the absence of central nervous system control over the GI system [24]. There are two different bowel dysfunction types in SCI patients: upper motor neuron syndrome and lower motor neuron bowel syndrome [25,26].…”

Selection of fast and slow growing bacteria from fecal microbiota using continuous culture with changing dilution rate

“…Zhu et al reported association between long retention time and decrease of relative abundance of Prevotella [6]. In two other studies, the increase of the transit time resulted in the decreased amounts of Bifidobacterium and Bacteroides [7] or Roseburia, Pseudobutyrivibrio, and Megamonas [8]. …”

Neurogenic Bowel, Disordered Glycemic Control and Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: A Preliminary Investigation

“…Cani et al [8] demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide, a component of certain gram negative bacterial membranes, can translocation across a "leaky" gut wall, stimulating a cascade of inflammatory cytokine release, increased adiposity, and hyperglycemia. Gungor et al [9] recently described fecal microbiomal shifts among individuals with SCI resulting in reduced production of butyrate, a fatty acid instrumental in preserving gut barrier functions [10]. While our data and the scope of this preliminary work are insufficient to support conclusions about metabolic effects of neurogenic bowel, they raise the possibility of a unifying explanation (microbiomal perturbations with resulting "leaky" gut) for both the adipose deposition in skeletal muscle and the post-prandial hyperglycemia often seen in people with SCI.…”