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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1507336
This article is part of the Research Topic Gut Microbiota Modulation to Mitigate Stress-Induced Functional Changes View all 9 articles
Role of Gut Microbiota in Predicting Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia Duration in Leukemia Patients
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Hematology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
- 2 Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
Background: Acute leukemia is an aggressive malignancy with high morbidity and mortality, and chemotherapy is the primary treatment modality. However, chemotherapy often induces neutropenia (chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, CIN), increasing the risk of infectious complications and mortality. Current research suggests that gut microbiota may play a significant role in chemotherapy's efficacy and side effects.Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether gut microbiota can predict the duration of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in leukemia patients.We included 56 leukemia patients from the Hematology Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, collecting fecal samples one day before and one day after chemotherapy. The diversity and community structure of gut microbiota were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Patients were divided into two groups based on the duration of neutropenia post-chemotherapy: Neutropenia ≤7 Days Group (NLE7 Group) and Neutropenia ＞ 7 Days Group (NGT7 Group). Comparative analysis identified characteristic microbiota.Results: After chemotherapy, gut microbiota diversity significantly decreased (p<0.05). In the NGT7 Group, the relative abundance of Enterococcus before chemotherapy was significantly higher than in the NLE7 Group (p<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the relative abundance of Enterococcus had high predictive accuracy for the duration of neutropenia (AUC=0.800, 95% CI: 0.651-0.949).The abundance of Enterococcus before chemotherapy can predict the duration of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. These findings provide new evidence for gut microbiota as a predictive biomarker for chemotherapy side effects and may guide personalized treatment for leukemia patients.
Keywords: Leukemia1 gut microbiota2, 16S rRNA3, chemotherapy4, neutropenia5 leukemia, chemotherapy, Neutropenia, Gut Microbiota, prediction
Received: 21 Oct 2024; Accepted: 18 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Liao, Tang and Tao. 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:
Duozhuang Tang, Department of Hematology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
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