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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Bacteria and Host
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1364333

Urine microbiome analysis as a tool towards targeted non-invasive biomarkers for systemic lupus erythematosus

Provisionally accepted
Bo Shi Bo Shi 1Chen Fei Chen Fei 2Jianmin Gong Jianmin Gong 3Adeel Khan Adeel Khan 4Xiang Qian Xiang Qian 5Zhipeng Xu Zhipeng Xu 6Ping Yang Ping Yang 2*
  • 1 Department of Medical Laboratory, Nanjing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
  • 2 Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
  • 3 College of Life Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, P.R. China, Jingzhou, China
  • 4 Department of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • 5 Department of Laboratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 6 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Modern Pathogenic Biology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Bacteriome alterations are associated with the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Nevertheless, investigations focusing on the relationship between SLE and urinary microbiome has received limited attention. This study aimed to characterize the urinary microbiome of SLE using 16S rRNA sequencing, followed by an integrative analysis of its correlation with clinical parameters. Initially, DNA extracted from urine sediment samples collected from individuals with SLE with lupus nephritis (LN) (n=20) and without LN (n=22), as well as healthy controls (HCs) (n=23) were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing. To assess diagnostic efficacy and identify possible links of urinary microbiome with clinical parameters, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and Spearman's correlation analysis were used, respectively. The established urinary microbiota diagnostic model showed excellent diagnostic performance between the SLE group and the HC group. The urinary microbiome and clinical parameters showed a strong link by Spearman analysis. Interestingly, our findings demonstrated Sphingomonas, Lachnospiraceae genera showed a significant positive correlation with vitamin D, cylinderuria, and proteinuria. However, Pedobacter, Aquabacterium, Delftia, Achromobacter displayed a negative correlation with proteinuria and ACR. Finally, Picrust2 was utilized for functional prediction of the bacteria, revealing its potential function of regulating the immune system via modifying signal pathways and metabolism. Our study is the first to reveal dysbiosis in the urinary microbiome of patients with SLE. Certain bacteria in the urinary microbiome can serve as diagnostic biomarkers for SLE.

    Keywords: systemic lupus erythematosus, Lupus Nephritis, urinary microbiota, 16S, biomarker

    Received: 02 Jan 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Shi, Fei, Gong, Khan, Qian, Xu and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ping Yang, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.