ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Molecular Bacterial Pathogenesis
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1634631
Metagenomic Analysis and Functional Pathway Enrichments of Gut Microbiota in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma in the MENA Region
Provisionally accepted
Mohammad T Al Bataineh1
Nihar Ranjan Dash2
Mohamed Mysara3
Omnia Saeed3
Noura Alkhayyal4
Iman Mamdouh Talaat2
Riyad Bendardaf4
Maha Mohamed Saber-Ayad2*- 1Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan
- 2College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- 3Nile University, Sheikh Zayed City, Egypt
- 4University Hospital in Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Word count: 215 Background: Growing evidence suggests that gut microbiota plays a role in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC), and a few bacterial strains have been linked to carcinogenesis. Contrary to the Western population, the relationship between pro-cancer microorganisms and CRC among Middle Eastern individuals remains largely unexplored. Ninety-eight samples from Middle Eastern individuals with and without CRC were subjected to microbial profiling based on the 16S rRNA gene.Results: The CRC group exhibited a more complex gut microbiota with clusters that were significantly distinct from those of the control group. The taxonomic orders Caulobacterales, Rhizobiales, Sphingomonadales, and Burkholderiales, along with the genera Recibecterium and Sphingobium, were overrepresented in the CRC samples based on differential abundance testing between the CRC and control groups. Utilizing 16S-based functional prediction, we identified a significant enrichment of pathways vital for pentose and glucuronate interconversions, metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides, spliceosome, and dTMP kinase pathways within the CRC group. Moreover, we identified an intriguing linkage between Herbaspirillum huttiense and actin cytoskeleton regulatory pathways, potentially shedding light on the mechanisms of cytoskeletal rearrangement and carcinogenesis linked to H. huttiense. Further validation is needed to clarify its role in colorectal cancer cytoskeletal dynamics..The findings of this study support the connection between gut microbiota and the development of CRC and may provide potential diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for CRC in the MENA Region.
Keywords: Adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, Dysbiosis, microbiota, Metagenomics
Received: 24 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Al Bataineh, Dash, Mysara, Saeed, Alkhayyal, Talaat, Bendardaf and Saber-Ayad. 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: Maha Mohamed Saber-Ayad, msaber@sharjah.ac.ae
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