BACKGROUND Autoimmune diseases have been associated with changes in the gut microbiome. In this study, the gut microbiome was evaluated in individuals with dry eye and bacterial compositions were correlated to dry eye (DE) measures. We prospectively included 13 individuals with who met full criteria for Sjögren's (SDE) and 8 individuals with features of Sjögren's but who did not meet full criteria (NDE) for a total of 21 cases as compared to 21 healthy controls. Stool was analyzed by 16S pyrosequencing, and associations between bacterial classes and DE symptoms and signs were examined. RESULTS Results showed that Firmicutes was the dominant phylum in the gut, comprising 40-60% of all phyla. On a phyla level, subjects with DE (SDE and NDE) had depletion of Firmicutes (1.1-fold) and an expansion of Proteobacteria (3.0-fold), Actinobacteria (1.7-fold), and Bacteroidetes (1.3-fold) compared to controls. Shannon's diversity index showed no differences between groups with respect to the numbers of different operational taxonomic units (OTUs) encountered (diversity) and the instances these unique OTUs were sampled (evenness). On the other hand, Faith's phylogenetic diversity showed increased diversity in cases vs controls, which reached significance when comparing SDE and controls (13.57 ± 0.89 and 10.96 ± 0.76, p = 0.02). Using Principle Co-ordinate Analysis, qualitative differences in microbial composition were noted with differential clustering of cases and controls. Dimensionality reduction and clustering of complex microbial data further showed differences between the three groups, with regard to microbial composition, association and clustering. Finally, differences in certain classes of bacteria were associated with DE symptoms and signs. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, individuals with DE had gut microbiome alterations as compared to healthy controls. Certain classes of bacteria were associated with DE measures.

中文翻译：

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干燥综合征患者的肠道微生物失调。


背景技术自身免疫性疾病与肠道微生物组的变化有关。在这项研究中，对干眼患者的肠道微生物组进行了评估，并将细菌组成与干眼 (DE) 测量值相关。我们前瞻性地纳入了 13 名符合干燥病完全标准 (SDE) 的个体和 8 名具有干燥病特征但不符合完全标准 (NDE) 的个体，总共 21 例，与 21 名健康对照者相比。通过 16S 焦磷酸测序分析粪便，并检查细菌类别与 DE 症状和体征之间的关联。结果 结果显示，厚壁菌门是肠道中的优势门，占所有门的 40-60%。在门水平上，与对照组相比，DE（SDE 和 NDE）受试者的厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）减少（1.1 倍），变形菌门（Proteobacteria）（3.0 倍）、放线菌门（Actinobacteria）（1.7 倍）和拟杆菌门（Bacteroidetes）（1.3 倍）扩增。香农多样性指数显示，在遇到的不同操作分类单元 (OTU) 数量（多样性）以及对这些独特 OTU 进行采样的实例（均匀度）方面，各组之间没有差异。另一方面，Faith 的系统发育多样性在病例与对照中表现出增加的多样性，在比较 SDE 和对照时达到显着性（13.57 ± 0.89 和 10.96 ± 0.76，p = 0.02）。使用原理坐标分析，通过病例和对照的差异聚类注意到微生物组成的定性差异。复杂微生物数据的降维和聚类进一步显示了三组之间在微生物组成、关联和聚类方面的差异。最后，某些细菌类别的差异与 DE 症状和体征有关。 结论 总之，与健康对照相比，DE 患者的肠道微生物组发生了改变。某些细菌类别与 DE 测量相关。