Beneficial Bacteria in the Gut Microbiota May Lead to Improved Metabolic and Immunological Status in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

The progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by functional changes in the airways. The lung-gut axis and gut microbiota (GM) have been linked to the pathophysiology of airway diseases. Regarding COPD, studies have shown that GM alterations could be related the stages of this disease. However, the relationship between GM and clinical, biochemical and immunological parameters in patients with COPD are not well understood. The aim of this study was to compare the relative abundance of specific groups of beneficial gut bacteria between COPD patients and healthy controls (CTLs) in order to evaluate relationships with metabolic and inflammatory markers in COPD.

Methods: We included 16 stable COPD patients and 16 healthy volunteer CTLs. The relative abundances of Bifidobacterium spp. (Bf) and Akkermansia muciniphila (Akk) bacteria and the Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla were assessed by qPCR. Pulmonary function was evaluated by spirometry, biochemical parameters by colorimetric methods and plasma cytokine levels by cytometric bead array analysis.

Results: The Firmicutes/Bacteroides ratio was related to emergency hospital visits and six-minute walk test (6MWT) results. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Bf was associated with plasma concentrations of glucose, triglycerides, HDL-C and IL-10. In addition, Firmicutes levels and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio were associated with the IL-12/IL-10 ratio, while Akk abundance was linked to IL-12 levels.

Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the abundance of beneficial bacteria in the GM could influence clinical presentation and immunoregulation in COPD.

Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; clinical markers; cytokines; gut microbiota.