Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is closely associated with the oral and gut microbiomes. Fungal cell wall components initiate inflammatory arthritis in mouse models. However, little is known regarding the role of the fungal community in the pathogenesis of RA. To evaluate the association between RA and th...

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Main Authors: Eun Ha Lee, Hyun Kim, Jung Hee Koh, Kwang Hyun Cha, Kiseok Keith Lee, Wan-Uk Kim, Cheol-Ho Pan, Yong-Hwan Lee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2022-12-01
Series:Gut Microbes
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19490976.2022.2149020
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author Eun Ha Lee
Hyun Kim
Jung Hee Koh
Kwang Hyun Cha
Kiseok Keith Lee
Wan-Uk Kim
Cheol-Ho Pan
Yong-Hwan Lee
author_facet Eun Ha Lee
Hyun Kim
Jung Hee Koh
Kwang Hyun Cha
Kiseok Keith Lee
Wan-Uk Kim
Cheol-Ho Pan
Yong-Hwan Lee
author_sort Eun Ha Lee
collection DOAJ
description Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is closely associated with the oral and gut microbiomes. Fungal cell wall components initiate inflammatory arthritis in mouse models. However, little is known regarding the role of the fungal community in the pathogenesis of RA. To evaluate the association between RA and the gut microbiome, investigations of bacterial and fungal communities in patients with RA are necessary. Therefore, we investigated the compositions and associations of fecal bacterial and fungal communities in 30 healthy controls and 99 patients with RA. The relative abundances of Bifidobacterium and Blautia decreased, whereas the relative abundance of Streptococcus increased, in patients with RA. The relative abundance of Candida in the fecal fungal community was higher in patients with RA than in healthy controls, while the relative abundance of Aspergillus was higher in healthy controls than in patients with RA. Candida species-specific gene amplification showed that C. albicans was the most abundant species of Candida. Ordination analysis and random forest classification models supported the findings of structural changes in bacterial and fungal communities. Aspergillus was the core fecal fungal genus in healthy controls, although Saccharomyces spp. are typically predominant in Western cohorts. In addition, bacterial–fungal association analyses showed that the hub node had shifted from fungi to bacteria in patients with RA. The finding of fungal dysbiosis in patients with RA suggests that fungi play critical roles in the fecal microbial communities and pathogenesis of RA.
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spelling doaj-art-9064ce3b9a2a4589927f602fef74fb8c2025-08-20T03:05:25ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGut Microbes1949-09761949-09842022-12-0114110.1080/19490976.2022.2149020Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritisEun Ha Lee0Hyun Kim1Jung Hee Koh2Kwang Hyun Cha3Kiseok Keith Lee4Wan-Uk Kim5Cheol-Ho Pan6Yong-Hwan Lee7Natural Product Informatics Research Center, KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Gangneung, KoreaDepartment of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, KoreaDivision of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, KoreaNatural Product Informatics Research Center, KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Gangneung, KoreaDepartment of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, KoreaDivision of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, KoreaNatural Product Informatics Research Center, KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Gangneung, KoreaInterdisciplinary Program in Agricultural Genomics, Seoul National University, Seoul, KoreaRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is closely associated with the oral and gut microbiomes. Fungal cell wall components initiate inflammatory arthritis in mouse models. However, little is known regarding the role of the fungal community in the pathogenesis of RA. To evaluate the association between RA and the gut microbiome, investigations of bacterial and fungal communities in patients with RA are necessary. Therefore, we investigated the compositions and associations of fecal bacterial and fungal communities in 30 healthy controls and 99 patients with RA. The relative abundances of Bifidobacterium and Blautia decreased, whereas the relative abundance of Streptococcus increased, in patients with RA. The relative abundance of Candida in the fecal fungal community was higher in patients with RA than in healthy controls, while the relative abundance of Aspergillus was higher in healthy controls than in patients with RA. Candida species-specific gene amplification showed that C. albicans was the most abundant species of Candida. Ordination analysis and random forest classification models supported the findings of structural changes in bacterial and fungal communities. Aspergillus was the core fecal fungal genus in healthy controls, although Saccharomyces spp. are typically predominant in Western cohorts. In addition, bacterial–fungal association analyses showed that the hub node had shifted from fungi to bacteria in patients with RA. The finding of fungal dysbiosis in patients with RA suggests that fungi play critical roles in the fecal microbial communities and pathogenesis of RA.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19490976.2022.2149020Fecal microbiotaCandidaAspergillusdysbiosisrheumatoid arthritis
spellingShingle Eun Ha Lee
Hyun Kim
Jung Hee Koh
Kwang Hyun Cha
Kiseok Keith Lee
Wan-Uk Kim
Cheol-Ho Pan
Yong-Hwan Lee
Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Gut Microbes
Fecal microbiota
Candida
Aspergillus
dysbiosis
rheumatoid arthritis
title Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
title_full Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
title_fullStr Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
title_full_unstemmed Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
title_short Dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
title_sort dysbiotic but nonpathogenic shift in the fecal mycobiota of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
topic Fecal microbiota
Candida
Aspergillus
dysbiosis
rheumatoid arthritis
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19490976.2022.2149020
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