New UCLA-led research suggests that certain gut bacteria, including one that is essential for a healthy gut microbiome, differ between people who go on to acquire HIV infection compared to those who have not.
The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal eBioMedicine, suggest that the gut microbiome may contribute to the risk of HIV infection, said study leader Dr. Jennifer Fulcher, assistant professor of medicine, division of infectious diseases , at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
“This is an important area that needs more research to better understand if and how these bacteria could affect HIV transmission,” said Fulcher, who also has an appointment with the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
Microbiome-based therapies are becoming a hot research area with great potential. With further research, this could be a new way to help prevent HIV.”
Jennifer Fulcher, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences
There is a known link between chronic HIV and changes in gut bacteria, Fulcher said. The researchers wanted to better understand when these changes begin to occur after HIV infection.
To that end, they examined gut microbiome samples from 27 men who have sex with men that were collected before and after they became infected. They then compared these samples with 28 men who had a similar behavioral risk of infection but did not have HIV.
The samples come from the UCLA-led Collaborating Consortium of Cohorts Producing NIDA Opportunities (C3PNO), a resource and data center for millions of pieces of research, laboratory samples, statistics and other data intended to advance research on the effects of substance abuse on HIV. /AIDS.
The researchers found that during the first year there was very little change in the gut bacteria of the infected men. They found, however, that men who acquired HIV had pre-existing differences in gut bacteria, even before they became infected, compared to their uninfected counterparts.
Specifically, these men had decreased levels of Bacteroides species, a type of bacteria prevalent in the lower intestinal tract that have important metabolic functions in maintaining a healthy gut environment, and increased levels of Megasphaera elsdenii, whose role in the human gut not yet known compared to uninfected risk controls. The researchers also found that before infection the men who acquired HIV had elevated inflammatory cytokines and bioactive lipids, both of which are associated with systemic inflammation, indicating that their bodies were constantly on the defensive against infection or injury, compared with the matching controls.
Limitations of the study include the relatively small sample size and focus only on young men who have sex with men, most of whom use drugs, which may limit its generalizability to other populations.
Source:
University of California – Los Angeles Health Sciences
Journal reference:
Fulcher, JA, et al. (2022) Gut dysbiosis and inflammatory blood markers precede HIV with limited changes after early seroconversion. EBioMedicina. doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104286.