Abstract
HIV-1 infected individuals under antiretroviral therapy can control viremia but often develop non-AIDS diseases such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Gut microbiome dysbiosis has been indicated to be associated with progression of these diseases. Analyses of gut/fecal microbiome in individual regions are important for our understanding of pathogenesis in HIV-1 infections. However, data on gut/fecal microbiome has not yet been accumulated in West Africa. In the present study, we examined fecal microbiome compositions in HIV-1 infected adults in Ghana, where approximately two-thirds of infected adults are females. In a cross-sectional case-control study, age- and gender-matched HIV-1 infected adults (HIV+; n = 55) and seronegative controls (HIV-; n = 55) were enrolled. Alpha diversity of fecal microbiome in HIV+ was significantly reduced compared to HIV- and associated with CD4 counts. HIV+ showed reduction in varieties of bacteria including Faecalibacterium, the most abundant in seronegative controls, but enrichment of Proteobacteria. Ghanaian HIV+ exhibited enrichment of Dorea and Blautia; bacteria groups whose depletion has been reported in HIV-1 infected individuals in several other cohorts. Furthermore, HIV+ in our cohort exhibited a depletion of Prevotella, a genus whose enrichment has recently been shown in men having sex with men (MSM) regardless of HIV-1 status. The present study revealed the characteristics of dysbiotic fecal microbiome in HIV-1 infected adults in Ghana, a representative of West African populations.
Highlights
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can inhibit HIV-1 replication and prevent AIDS progression but is not able to eliminate the viruses in HIV-1 infected individuals (Dieffenbach and Fauci, 2011)
A total of 110 participants consisting of 55 HIV-1 infected (HIV+) and 55 uninfected (HIV-) adults were enrolled in the present study
Our cohort consisting of individuals from peri-urban communities exhibited abundance in Prevotella and Bacteroides in fecal microbiome, suggesting the pattern of dietary habit in transition from rural to industrialized area (Parbie et al, 2020)
Summary
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can inhibit HIV-1 replication and prevent AIDS progression but is not able to eliminate the viruses in HIV-1 infected individuals (Dieffenbach and Fauci, 2011). Gut dysbiosis in HIV-1 infected individuals has been indicated to be associated with progression of these non-AIDS diseases (Vujkovic-Cvijin et al, 2013; Nwosu et al, 2014; West et al, 2015; Kehrmann et al, 2019). Reports comparing microbial compositions of HIV-1 infected and uninfected groups adequately matched on age, gender, and residence are quite limited. To address the issues described above, we started analyzing fecal microbiome in HIV-1 infected individuals in Ghana, West Africa, where data on enteric microbiome has not yet been accumulated. We compared fecal microbiome in HIV-1 infected and uninfected groups matched on gender, age, and community of residence in Ghana. Analysis revealed the characteristics of dysbiotic fecal microbiome in HIV-1 infected Ghanaians
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