AUTHOR=Wan Linlin , Zhou Xin , Wang Chunrong , Chen Zhao , Peng Huirong , Hou Xuan , Peng Yun , Wang Puzhi , Li Tianjiao , Yuan Hongyu , Shi Yuting , Hou Xiaocan , Xu Keqin , Xie Yue , He Lang , Xia Kun , Tang Beisha , Jiang Hong 

TITLE=Alterations of the Gut Microbiota in Multiple System Atrophy Patients

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.01102

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2019.01102

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, and the pathogenesis is still quite challenging. Emerging evidence has shown that the brain–gut–microbiota axis served a pivotal role in neurological diseases; however, researches utilizing metagenomic sequencing to analyze the alteration in gut microbiota of MSA patients were quite rare. Here, we carried out metagenomic sequencing in feces of 15 MSA patients and 15 healthy controls, to characterize the alterations in gut microbial composition and function of MSA patients in mainland China. The results showed that gut microbial community of MSA patients was significantly different from healthy controls, characterized by increased genus <italic>Akkermansia</italic> and species <italic>Roseburia hominis</italic>, <italic>Akkermansia muciniphila</italic>, <italic>Alistipes onderdonkii</italic>, <italic>Streptococcus parasanguinis</italic>, and <italic>Staphylococcus xylosus</italic>, while decreased genera <italic>Megamonas</italic>, <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic>, <italic>Blautia</italic>, and <italic>Aggregatibacter</italic> and species <italic>Bacteroides coprocola</italic>, <italic>Megamonas funiformis</italic>, <italic>Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum</italic>, <italic>Clostridium nexile</italic>, <italic>Bacteroides plebeius</italic>, and <italic>Granulicatella adiacens</italic>. Further, functional analysis based on the KEGG database revealed aberrant functional pathways in fecal microbiome of MSA patients. In conclusion, our findings provided evidence for dysbiosis in gut microbiota of Chinese MSA cohorts and helped develop new testable hypotheses on pathophysiology of MSA.</p>