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. 2022 Dec 1;36(15):2089-2099.
doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003363. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Multiomic analysis reveals microbiome-related relationships between cocaine use and metabolites

Sabrina Sales Martinez  1 , Vitalii Stebliankin  2 , Jacqueline Hernandez  1 , Haley Martin  1 , Javier Tamargo  1 , Jose Bastida Rodriguez  1 , Colby Teeman  1 , Angelique Johnson  1 , Leslie Seminario  1 , Adriana Campa  1 , Giri Narasimhan  2 , Marianna K Baum  1
Affiliations

Multiomic analysis reveals microbiome-related relationships between cocaine use and metabolites

Sabrina Sales Martinez et al. AIDS. .

Abstract

Objective: Over 19 million individuals globally have a cocaine use disorder, a significant public health crisis. Cocaine has also been associated with a pro-inflammatory state and recently with imbalances in the intestinal microbiota as compared to nonuse. The objective of this pilot study was to characterize the gut microbiota and plasma metabolites in people with HIV (PWH) who use cocaine compared with those who do not.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: A pilot study in PWH was conducted on 25 cocaine users and 25 cocaine nonusers from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV cohort. Stool samples and blood plasma were collected. Bacterial composition was characterized using 16S rRNA sequencing. Metabolomics in plasma were determined using gas and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Results: The relative abundances of the Lachnopspira genus, Oscillospira genus, Bifidobacterium adolescentis species, and Euryarchaeota phylum were significantly higher in the cocaine- using PWH compared to cocaine-nonusing PWH. Cocaine-use was associated with higher levels of several metabolites: products of dopamine catabolism (3-methoxytyrosine and 3-methoxytyramine sulfate), phenylacetate, benzoate, butyrate, and butyrylglycine.

Conclusions: Cocaine use was associated with higher abundances of taxa and metabolites known to be associated with pathogenic states that include gastrointestinal conditions. Understanding key intestinal bacterial functional pathways that are altered due to cocaine use in PWH will provide a better understanding of the relationships between the host intestinal microbiome and potentially provide novel treatments to improve health.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
LEfSe identified the most differentially abundant taxon between cocaine users and non-users. Taxa relatively enriched in cocaine users are indicated as turquoise color, and taxa enriched in the non-users group are shown in red. Only taxa with an LDA significant threshold of >2 are shown. LDA=Linear discriminant analysis
Figure 2:
Figure 2:. Metagenomics profile.
Stacked bar plot showing the microbial composition (relative abundance) on genus level. Organisms with a relative abundance of less than 1% were combined with the “other” label.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:. Validation of Treatment Groups.
Metabolites of cocaine catabolism significantly higher by cocaine use compared to non-use in females and males (P<0.05 two-way ANOVA (Analysis of variance)). F=female and M=males
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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