Objective: The 16 rRNA analysis and the shotgun metagenome analysis in our cohort were compared with 5 previous reports by others.

Background: In PD patients, the frequency of constipation is higher than control. People who received total vagotomy for the purpose of treating duodenal ulcers in the past have a 50% reduction in the incidence of PD. These facts suggest that the changes in intestinal environment may be involved in the development of PD. It has been clarified that the intestinal microbiota is related to various diseases. Compositional changes of intestinal bacteria in PD have been reported in many countries.

Methods: In the 16s rRNA analysis, the V3-V4 regions were amplified by PCR and 300-bp pair-ends were sequenced with Illumina MiSeq. The obtained data were analyzed by Qiime 2. In the shotgun metagenome analysis, 150-bp pair-ends of the whole metagenome were sequenced with Illumina HiSeq 2500.The obtained data were analyzed by MetaPhlAn 2. We also obtained raw sequencing datasets in the past reports from the GEO database and others. For each downloaded dataset, 16S rRNA analysis and the shotgun metagenome analysis were performed using Qiime 2 and MetaPhlAn 2, respectively.

Results: The compositions of microbiota varied widely between countries. The difference in controls between countries was larger than the difference between healthy and PD individuals in each country. In Finland, Prevotella was the major intestinal bacterial species. However, in Germany, Japan, and the USA, the ratio of Prevotella was small. In Japan, the ratio of Bifidobacterium was higher than those in other countries.

Conclusions: Differences in microbiota compositions between healthy and PD individuals have been reported in many countries. However, since the microbiota composition in controls in each country varies greatly, it is unlikely that specific bacteria are uniquely changed in PD. In the future, functional analysis, not taxonomic analysis, of shotgun metagenome datasets will elucidate intestinal dysbiosis that is unique to PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/gut-microbiota-geography-in-parkinsons-disease-in-the-world/