Dysbiosis of gut microbiota in patients with protein-losing enteropathy after the Fontan procedure.

There is a lack of predictive biomarkers for the onset or activity of protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), a Fontan procedure-associated complication. Here, we aimed to identify the gut microbiota composition of patients with active PLE and investigate its relationship with PLE activity. This multicenter case–control study involved patients who developed PLE (n = 16) after the Fontan procedure and those who did not (non-PLE; n = 20). Patients with PLE who maintained a serum albumin level of ≥3 g/dL for >1 year were included in the remissive-stage-PLE group (n = 9) and those who did not maintain this level were included in the active-PLE group (n = 7). 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of fecal samples was performed using QIIME2 pipeline. Alpha (Shannon and Faith's phylogenetic diversity indices) and beta diversity was assessed using principal coordinate analysis based on unweighted UniFrac distances. Shannon and Faith's phylogenetic diversity indices were lower in the active-PLE group than in the remissive-stage- (q = 0.028 and 0.025, respectively) and non-PLE (q = 0.028 and 0.017, respectively) groups. Analysis of beta diversity revealed a difference in the microbiota composition between the active-PLE and the other two groups. Linear discriminant effect size analysis demonstrated differences in the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and Granulicatella spp., and Ruminococcus torques between patients with active- and those with remissive-stage-PLE. Gut microbiota dysbiosis was observed in patients with active PLE. Changes in the bacterial composition of the gut microbiota and decreased diversity may be associated with the severity of PLE. • Here, we analyzed and compared the gut microbiota in patients with and without active PLE after the Fontan procedure based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. • The alpha diversity of the gut microbiota was lower in the active-PLE group than those in the remissive-stage-PLE and non-PLE groups. • The relative abundances of several bacterial genera, including Bifidobacterium , Ru min ococcus , and Granulicatella , differed between patients with active- and remissive-stage-PLE. • Analysis of the gut microbiota could assist in developing new biomarkers to assess the activity of Fontan-associated PLE and novel treatments, such as probiotics and prebiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]