AUTHOR=Huang Ziyin , Mei Xiaofei , Jiang Yufeng , Chen Tan , Zhou Yafeng 

TITLE=Gut Microbiota in Heart Failure Patients With Preserved Ejection Fraction (GUMPTION Study)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2021.803744

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2021.803744

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=Introduction: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is associated with disrupted intestinal epithelial function, resulting from the intestinal congestion. Intestinal congestion changes the morphology and permeability of intestinal wall, and the gut microbiota is easy to change and transfer. Intervention on gut microbiota may become a new target for HFpEF treatment. However, the characteristics of gut microbiota in patients with HFpEF remain unknown. This preliminary report aims to detect the structure of gut microbiota in HFpEF patients so as to explore their characteristic changes, providing a theoretical basis for future research.
Methods: This research recruited 30 patients diagnosed with HFpEF and 30 healthy individuals. Stool specimen of research subjects were collected separately, and the microarray analyses of gut microbiota were conducted by Illumina high-throughput DNA sequencing. The differences of gut microbiota composition, alpha diversity and beta diversity between two groups were finally obtained.
Results: The composition of gut microbiota was significantly different between two groups. At phylum classification level, the abundance of Synergistetes tended to be higher in HFpEF group (P=0.012). At genus classification level, the abundance of Butyricicoccus (P<0.001), Sutterella (P=0.004), Lachnospira (P=0.003) and Ruminiclostridium (P=0.009) in HFpEF group were lower, while the abundance of Enterococcus (P<0.001) and Lactobacillus (P=0.005) were higher. According to the chao index of alpha diversity analysis, HFpEF patients showed a nominally significantly lower species richness compared with controls (P=0.046). While there was no statistical difference in shannon index (P=0.159) and simpson index (P=0.495), indicating that there was no difference in species diversity between two groups. Beta diversity analysis revealed a highly significant separation of HFpEF patients and controls.
Conclusions: An imbalance in the gut microbiota of HFpEF patient was observed. Patients with HFpEF have an increased abundance of microbiota associated with inflammation and a decreased abundance of microbiota associated with anti-inflammatory effects in the gut environment. In line with that, the species richness of gut microbiota in HFpEF patients tended to be lower.