Gut microbiome variation in pulmonary TB patients with diabetes or HIV comorbiditiesOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
Researchers in Ghana compared the gut microbiome of tuberculosis (TB) patients, including subgroups with diabetes mellitus (TB-DM) or HIV (TB-HIV) comorbidity, against healthy household controls. They assessed changes before treatment and again after the two-month intensive phase of anti-TB therapy.
How was it studied?
Ninety participants (60 TB-only, 23 TB-DM, 7 TB-HIV) provided stool samples at baseline, and 50 of them were resampled after two months of HRZE antibiotic therapy. Gut microbiota were profiled by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with taxonomic diversity and PICRUSt2-predicted functional pathways compared across groups.
What did they find?
All three TB cohorts showed significantly lower alpha diversity and altered composition versus healthy controls, with enrichment of inflammatory genera Escherichia-shigella, Streptococcus, Enterococcus and Erysipelatoclostridium, and depletion of Faecalibacterium, Bifidobacterium and Clostridium. TB-only patients were enriched with Streptococcus and Erysipelatoclostridium, TB-DM with Bacteroides, and TB-HIV with Escherichia-shigella, Dialister and Erysipelatoclostridium. After two months of anti-TB therapy, Erysipelotrichaceae UCG-003, Veillonella and Fusobacterium became more enriched across cohorts.
Why it matters
The findings suggest tuberculosis itself, independent of diabetes or HIV status, drives gut dysbiosis and expansion of inflammation-associated microbes, which may have implications for immune function and treatment response during anti-TB therapy.