Zeitschrift für Bakteriologie und Parasitologie

Abstrakt

Molecular Characterization of Gut Microbiota in Obese and Lean Hypertensive Patients

Nosheen Mushtaq, Safdar Hussain and Jiru Xu

Hypertension (HTN) and obesity are the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and the gut microbiota has emerged to play a role in the development of many of the diseases including hypertension. In this study we hypothesized that obesity in hypertension could be linked to a specific gut microbiota. Our aim was to quantify and evaluate the differences in the composition of gut microbiota between obese and lean hypertensive patients and compared them with healthy controls. Fecal samples from 30 obese and 30 lean hypertensive patients and 30 samples from healthy individuals were collected. The samples were analyzed by PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) using primers, specifically targeting the V3 region of the bacterial 16s ribosomal RNA gene. Absolute quantification of the bacterial species such as Prevotella spp., Bacteroides spp., Clostridium spp. and Escherichia coli was performed by quantitative real time PCR (qPCR). DGGE results revealed that the intra-group similarity was significantly different in the obese hypertensive patients than that of the lean and control groups, and there was a significant decrease of Bacteroides spp. in the obese patients. While an elevated level of Clostridium spp. was observed in the both hypertensive groups as calculated by qPCR. Collectively, these findings support our hypothesis that obesity in hypertension is associated with compositional changes within gut microbiota and strategies could be developed to manage the gut dysbiosis in obesity linked hypertension and other related diseases.