ABSTRACT

The gut microbiome has been implicated in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) pathophysiology. PCOS is a disorder with reproductive, endocrine and metabolic irregularities, and several studies report that PCOS is associated with a decrease in microbial diversity and composition. Diet is an important regulator of the gut microbiome, as alterations in macronutrient composition impact the balance of gut microbial communities. This study investigated the interplay between macronutrient balance and PCOS on the gut microbiome of control and dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-induced PCOS-like mice exposed to diets that varied in protein (P), carbohydrate (C) and fat (F) content. The amount of dietary P, C and F consumed significantly altered alpha (α) and beta (β) diversity of the gut microbiota of control and PCOS-like mice. However, α-diversity between control and PCOS-like mice on the same diet did not differ significantly. In contrast, β-diversity was significantly altered by PCOS pathology. Further analysis identified an operational taxonomic unit (OTU) within Bacteroides (OTU3) with 99.2% similarity to Bacteroides acidifaciens, which is inversely associated with obesity, to be significantly decreased in PCOS-like mice. Additionally, this study investigated the role of the gut microbiome in the development of PCOS traits, whereby PCOS-like mice were transplanted with healthy fecal microbiota from control mice. Although the PCOS gut microbiome shifted toward that of control mice, PCOS traits were not ameliorated. Overall, these findings demonstrate that while diet exerts a stronger influence over gut microbiota diversity than PCOS pathology, overall gut microbiota composition is affected by PCOS pathology.

摘要

肠道微生物群与多囊卵巢综合征 (PCOS) 的病理生理学有关。PCOS 是一种生殖、内分泌和代谢异常的疾病，一些研究报告称 PCOS 与微生物多样性和组成的减少有关。饮食是肠道微生物组的重要调节剂，因为常量营养素组成的改变会影响肠道微生物群落的平衡。本研究调查了常量营养素平衡和 PCOS 之间的相互作用对对照组和二氢睾酮 (DHT) 诱导的 PCOS 样小鼠的肠道微生物组的相互作用，这些小鼠暴露于蛋白质 (P)、碳水化合物 (C) 和脂肪 (F) 含量不同的饮食中。膳食 P、C 和 F 的摄入量显着改变了对照小鼠和 PCOS 样小鼠肠道微生物群的 α (α) 和 β (β) 多样性。然而，相同饮食的对照组和 PCOS 样小鼠之间的 α 多样性没有显着差异。相反，多囊卵巢综合征病理显着改变了β-多样性。进一步的分析确定了一个操作分类单元（OTU）与肥胖成反比的Bacteroides acidifaciens相似性为 99.2% 的Bacteroides (OTU3)在 PCOS 样小鼠中显着降低。此外，本研究调查了肠道微生物组在 PCOS 特征发展中的作用，从而将来自对照小鼠的健康粪便微生物群移植到 PCOS 样小鼠身上。尽管 PCOS 肠道微生物组向对照小鼠的方向转变，但 PCOS 特征并未得到改善。总体而言，这些研究结果表明，虽然饮食对肠道微生物群多样性的影响比 PCOS 病理学更强，但整体肠道微生物群组成受 PCOS 病理学的影响。