title: Mucosa-attached bacterial community in Crohn's disease coheres with the clinical disease activity index.
abstract: In inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), microbial communities often become imbalanced suggesting abnormal microbial-gut interactions. In this study, we analysed the mucosa-attached gut microbiota from 26 Crohn's disease (CD) patients using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The samples were stratified according to their disease activity (Crohn's disease activity index, CDAI). The different disease activity categories had a comparable bacterial richness. Bacterial communities of patients in remission and intermediate CDAI (0-220) were relatively similar and dominated by the genus Bacteroides (>40%). The bacterial composition of patients assigned to a high CDAI category was dominated by Pelomonas (25%) and Flavobacterium (13%) but had a low relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (4%). This indicates the presence of specific abundant bacterial taxa at different CDAI levels. In addition, bacterial communities were also significantly influenced when a tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α inhibitor was applied or by the local mucosal inflammation level. As a consequence, a shift of the microbial composition may also indicate a change of the disease activity in CD patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schäffler
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde (IOW), Biological Oceanography, Seestrasse 15, D-18119, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel P R
authors.initials: DPR
authors.lastname: Herlemann
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alberts
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaschitzki
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bodammer
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bannert
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Hospital Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Köller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Hospital Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Warnke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Hospital Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kreikemeyer
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, Department of Medicine II, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lamprecht