Enriched and Decreased Intestinal Microbes in Active VKH Patients

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the possible microbiome related to Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease in comparison to patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis and healthy people.

Methods: Fecal samples were extracted from 42 individuals, including 11 patients with active VKH, 11 healthy people, and 20 patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis. We amplified the V3 to V4 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) region to obtain the target sequence. Then, the target sequence was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The obtained target sequences were sequenced by high-throughput 16S rDNA analysis.

Results: At the genus level, there were three enriched (Stomatobaculum, Pseudomonas, Lachnoanaerobaculum) and two depleted (Gordonibacter, Slackia) microbes that were detected only in patients with VKH. There were 10 enriched and 12 depleted microbes that were observed in both patients with VKH disease and noninfectious anterior scleritis (P < 0.05). The interactions of these microbes were graphed. Tyzzerella and Eggerthella were the nodes of interaction between these microorganisms, which were regulated by both positive and negative aspects, but the expression level in patients with active VKH was upregulated.

Conclusions: Special or nonspecial enrichment and decreased intestinal microbes were observed in patients with active VKH. The action mechanism of these microbes needs further study.

Figure 1.

(a) Rarefaction curves of the gut microbes from 11 patients with VKH, 20 patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis, and 11 healthy controls. (b) α-Diversity with the measures Chao1, Observed OTUs, PD_whole_tree, and Shannon for patients with VKH, patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis, and healthy controls. (c) β-Diversity with the measures Analysis of Molecular Variance (ANOVA) for patients with VKH, patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis, and healthy controls.

Figure 2.

(a) The relative abundance of microbes related to VKH disease, specifically between 11 patients with VKH (V), 11 healthy controls (N), and 20 patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis (G). (b) The relative abundance of microbes that were enriched in VKH disease between 11 patients with VKH (V), 11 healthy controls (N), and 20 patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis (G). (c) The relative abundance of microbes that were depleted in VKH disease between 11 patients with VKH (V), 11 healthy controls (N), and 20 patients with noninfectious anterior scleritis (G).

Figure 3.

Bacterial interaction network in the gut microbes (the different microbes between patients with VKH and healthy controls) of patients with VKH (V) showing significant co-occurrence and coexclusion relationships at the genus level. Each node represents a genus, the node sizes in the network correspond to their content, and different colors of the nodes represent different modules. Red represents a positive correlation, and green represents a negative correlation. The darker the color is, the stronger the correlation.

Figure 4.

Diagram of the possible mechanism of intestinal microbes in VKH disease.