GUT MICROBIOTA IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS AND CELIAC DISEASE
Aim: to investigate of fecal microbiota composition and to specify the features of intestinal dysbiosis in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and celiac disease (CD). Methods: Fresh fecal samples were collected from 40 mild-to-moderate active UC patients on mesalazine treatment, 43 CD patients on a gluten-free diet and 42 healthy controls (HC). The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used for fecal microbiota assessment. Results: UC and CD patients had lower Faecalibacterium prausnitzii counts than HC (p = 0.043 and p = 0.036, respectively). Butyrate-producing bacteria (primers for Butyryl-CoA: acetate CoA transferase gene were used) were depleted in UC patients compared to HC (p = 0.048). Surprisingly, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron was detected less frequently in UC patients than in HC (p = 0.016). The absence of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in feces or its levels below the limit of detection were significantly associated with ulcerative colitis (OR = 6.30; 95% CI: 1.33 - 29.95). CD patients had lower Bifidobacterium spp. counts than HC or UC (p = 0.022 and p = 0.046, respectively). Taxonomic dysbiosis in both UC and CD was characterized by a higher Bacteroides fragilis/Faecalibacterium prausnitzii ratio compared to HC (p < 0.05 in both cases). Conclusions: An increased B. fragilis/F. prausnitzii ratio can serve as available biomarker for intestinal proinflammatory dysbiosis in both UC and CD. Low counts of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (in both UC and CD) and total butyrate-producing bacteria (in UC) suggest the desirability of co-treatment with oral butyrate or butyrate-enhancing agents (probiotics, prebiotics, metabiotics) in both UC and CD. Not only butyrate-producing bacteria but possibly also Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron protects against ulcerative colitis. Treatment that increases colonic bifidobacteria (e. g. some Bifidobacterium probiotics or inulin-type prebiotics) can be considered in CD.