Faecalibacterium prausnitzii phylotypes in type two diabetic, obese, and lean control subjects

Abstract

Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is one of the main butyrate producers in the healthy human gut. Information on its genetic diversity is lacking, although two genetic phylotypes have been differentiated. In the present study, F. prausnitzii phylotypes were examined in faeces of obese and type two diabetes with similar eating behaviour compared to a lean control group. The purpose of the study was to analyse if an excessive butyrate production induced by different F. prausnitzii phylotypes discriminates between obese developing type two diabetes or not. The faecal samples were analysed for the total abundance of F. prausnitzii 16S rRNA copies, fragment lengths polymorphism, high resolution melt curve analysis (HRM) and the butyryl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase gene copies and melt curve variances. The diabetic group was found to differ significantly from the lean control group in the results of qPCR, butyryl-CoA:acetyate CoA-transferase gene melt curve, and HRM. F. prausnitzii phylotypes differed in obese with and without developed diabetes type two. Different phylotypes of F. prausnitzii may lead to differences in the inflammatory genesis in the host. F. prausnitzii phylotypes may have an influence on developing type two diabetes and might also act as starting points for prevention and therapy of obesity associated disease.