Abstract
Background: Intermittent hypoxia (IH), a hallmark of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), can change gut microbial community. However, whether these IH-induced changes are reversible after restoring normal breathing is unknown. The aim of this work was to investigate whether gut microbiota composition and circulating endotoxemia could be recovered after a post-IH normoxic period in a mouse model of OSA.
Methods: Ten mice were subjected to IH (40s 21% O2-20s 5% O2), 6h/day for 6 weeks and a control group of 10 mice were breathing room air. After the IH or normoxic exposure, both groups of mice were subjected to normoxia (room air). Microbiome composition of fecal samples was determined by 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. Bioinformatic analysis was performed by Quantitative Insights into Microbial Ecology. Plasmatic LPS was measured by endotoxin assay.
Results: After normoxic recovery, the IH group had a significant decrease in the abundance of Bacteroidetes and a significant increase of Firmicutes and Deferribacteres compared to controls. Circulating LPS concentration was considerably higher in the IH group. Moreover, the IH group showed a negative and significant correlation between the abundance of Lactobacillus and Ruminococcus and significant positive correlations between the abundance of Mucispirillum and Desulfovibrio and the plasma LPS levels, respectively.
Conclusion: The results obtained suggest that in OSA patients the benefits of CPAP on potential alterations in gut microbiota may require long term treatment.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016