Mucosa-Associated Microbiota in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Healthy Japanese Subjects

BACKGROUND: The importance of microbiota infiltrating the gut mucus layer has been reported in the pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal and systemic diseases. However, little is known about the mucosa-associated microbiota (MAM) in healthy subjects. The present study aimed to clarify the characteristics of the gastrointestinal MAM from the oral cavity to the rectum in healthy Japanese subjects. METHODS: Seventeen healthy subjects were enrolled. In this study, 5 mucosa samples from the upper gut (intraoral, mid-esophagus, gastric corpus, gastric antrum, and duodenum) and 7 from the lower gut (ileum, cecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum) were collected with a brush under endoscopic examination. MAM profiles of each sample were analyzed by 16S-rRNA V3-V4 gene sequences. RESULTS: Collecting mucosa samples by brushing provided sufficient material for MAM profiling without causing adverse effects. The upper and lower gut MAM profiles differed significantly (p < 0.0001). In the upper and lower gut, the intra- and inter-individual MAM profiles were significantly different (p = 0.0008 and p < 0.0001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The MAM profiles of the upper and lower gut were significantly different. The inter-individual differences in MAM were remarkable compared to the intra-individual differences.