Gut microbiota interactions are implicated in skeletal tuberculosis

Background : Microorganisms residing in the gut are implicated in the development of skeletal tuberculosis (ST). However, the specific mechanisms and types of microbes that actively facilitate the progression of ST remain largely unclear. The primary objective of this study was to identify the gut microbiota associated with ST. Results: The V3-V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene was sequenced using fecal DNA extracted from stool samples of 13 healthy individuals and 13 ST patients. The raw sequencing data of the 16S rDNA were processed through a pipeline based on QIIME. A marked divergence was observed in the gut microbial populations between ST patients and healthy individuals. Specifically, ST patients exhibited a significant reduction in alpha diversity. Moreover, ST patients demonstrated a higher abundance of certain microbial species, such as Deltaproteobacteria, Desulfovibrionales, Desulfovibrionaceae, and Mailhella, among others. Utilizing a random forest model, we were able to accurately differentiate ST patients from healthy controls, as evidenced by an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) value of 0.899. Notably, 30 significant differences in metabolic pathways were identified between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study underscores the potential pathogenic gut microbiota associated with ST. Through the comprehensive examination of patients' gut microbiota patterns, we investigated the intricate interplay between the gut microbiome and metabolome dynamics. Our findings revealed a robust association between these two domains. Our research team systematically compiled a list of bacterial species and metabolomic traits closely linked to skeletal tuberculosis, as indicated by specific biomarkers. The distinct alterations observed in the gut microbiome-metabolome of ST patients suggest that gut microbial characteristics may hold promise for novel clinical diagnostic approaches in the future.