AUTHOR=Fang Xin , Wang Xin , Yang Shaoguo , Meng Fanjing , Wang Xiaolei , Wei Hua , Chen Tingtao 

TITLE=Evaluation of the Microbial Diversity in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Using High-Throughput Sequencing

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01479

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01479

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>More and more evidences indicate that diseases of the central nervous system have been seriously affected by fecal microbes. However, little work is done to explore interaction between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fecal microbes. In the present study, high-throughput sequencing method was used to compare the intestinal microbial diversity of healthy people and ALS patients. The principal coordinate analysis, Venn and unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) showed an obvious microbial changes between healthy people (group H) and ALS patients (group A), and the average ratios of <italic>Bacteroides</italic>, <italic>Faecalibacterium</italic>, <italic>Anaerostipes</italic>, <italic>Prevotella</italic>, <italic>Escherichia</italic>, and <italic>Lachnospira</italic> at genus level between ALS patients and healthy people were 0.78, 2.18, 3.41, 0.35, 0.79, and 13.07. Furthermore, the decreased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio at phylum level using LEfSE (LDA &gt; 4.0), together with the significant increased genus <italic>Dorea</italic> (harmful microorganisms) and significant reduced genus <italic>Oscillibacter</italic>, <italic>Anaerostipes</italic>, <italic>Lachnospiraceae</italic> (beneficial microorganisms) in ALS patients, indicated that the imbalance in intestinal microflora constitution had a strong association with the pathogenesis of ALS.</p>