Exploring gut microbiota and metabolite alterations in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy using high-throughput sequencing and untargeted metabolomics

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Introduction Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is an autoimmune-driven orbital inflammatory disease. Despite research efforts, its exact pathogenesis remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize the intestinal flora and metabolic changes in patients with TAO to identify the flora and metabolites associated with disease development. Methods Thirty patients with TAO and 29 healthy controls were included in the study. The intestinal flora and metabolites were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and non-targeted metabolomics technology, respectively. Fresh fecal samples were collected from both populations for analysis. Results Reduced gut richness and diversity were observed in patients with TAO. Compared to healthy controls, significant differences in relative abundance were observed in patients with TAO at the order level Clostridiales , family level Staphylococcaceae , genus level Staphylococcus , Fournierella , Eubacterium siraeum , CAG-56 , Ruminococcus gnavus , Intestinibacter , Actinomyces , and Erysipelotrichaceae UCG-003 (logFC>1 and P Veillonella and Megamonas were closely associated with clinical symptoms in patients with TAO. Among the 184 significantly different metabolites, 63 were upregulated, and 121 were downregulated in patients with TAO compared to healthy controls. The biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids was the signifi

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.