Molecular analysis of gut microbiota (Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria) in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver, type 2 diabetes and healthy people

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the differences of dominant GM phyla among persons with NAFLD as compared to T2DM and control groups. Materials and Methods: The major bacterial phylum of GM including Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and total bacteria of 15 NAFLD patients with T2DM, 15 NAFLD patients without T2DM, 15 patients with T2DM, and 20 healthy control subjects were assessed by a quantitative PCR (qPCR). Results: NAFLD patients with T2DM had significantly higher body mass indices, triglyceride level, and total cholesterol level were compared with controls (Pv <0.05). We found that Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla were significantly low in NAFLD patients with T2DM (Pv <0.05), while the content of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were high in NAFLD patients with T2DM group and there were no significant differences between phyla with NAFLD patients with T2DM group (Pv >0.05). Furthermore, Firmicutes copy number was lower in the separate groups of NAFLD and T2DM as compared to the healthy controls; also, the level of Actinobacteria was significantly low in the T2DM group compared with the other patients and healthy group (Pv <0.05).