Human pharyngeal microbiota in age-related macular degeneration

While the aetiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)-a major blinding disease-remains unknown, the disease is strongly associated with variants in the complement factor H (CFH) gene. CFH variants also confer susceptibility to invasive infection with several bacterial colonizers of the nasop...

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Published in:	PloS one 2018-08, Vol.13 (8), p.e0201768-e0201768
Main Authors:	Ho, Eliza Xin Pei, Cheung, Chui Ming Gemmy, Sim, Shuzhen, Chu, Collins Wenhan, Wilm, Andreas, Lin, Clarabelle Bitong, Mathur, Ranjana, Wong, Doric, Chan, Choi Mun, Bhagarva, Mayuri, Laude, Augustinus, Lim, Tock Han, Wong, Tien Yin, Cheng, Ching Yu, Davila, Sonia, Hibberd, Martin
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Age Age related diseases Biology and Life Sciences Care and treatment Causes of Colonization Complement Complement factor H Deregulation Development and progression Disease Disease susceptibility Ecology and Environmental Sciences Gene sequencing Genomes Health Hospitals Macular degeneration Medical schools Medicine and Health Sciences Microbiomes Microbiota Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms) Microorganisms Mucosa Nasopharynx Pathogenesis Pharynx Physical Sciences Population studies Proteins Research and Analysis Methods Retina Ribonucleic acid RNA rRNA 16S Streptococcus infections Susceptibility
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Summary:	While the aetiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)-a major blinding disease-remains unknown, the disease is strongly associated with variants in the complement factor H (CFH) gene. CFH variants also confer susceptibility to invasive infection with several bacterial colonizers of the nasopharyngeal mucosa. This shared susceptibility locus implicates complement deregulation as a common disease mechanism, and suggests the possibility that microbial interactions with host complement may trigger AMD. In this study, we address this possibility by testing the hypothesis that AMD is associated with specific microbial colonization of the human nasopharynx. High-throughput Illumina sequencing of the V3-V6 region of the microbial 16S ribosomal RNA gene was used to comprehensively and accurately describe the human pharyngeal microbiome, at genus level, in 245 AMD patients and 386 controls. Based on mean and differential microbial abundance analyses, we determined an overview of the pharyngeal microbiota, as well as candidate genera (Prevotella and Gemella) suggesting an association towards AMD health and disease conditions. Utilizing an extensive study population from Singapore, our results provided an accurate description of the pharyngeal microbiota profiles in AMD health and disease conditions. Through identification of candidate genera that are different between conditions, we provide preliminary evidence for the existence of microbial triggers for AMD. Ethical approval for this study was obtained through the Singapore Health Clinical Institutional Review Board, reference numbers R799/63/2010 and 2010/585/A.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203