ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Relationship between pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and blood bacterial DNA composition in obese children

Roumiantsev SA1,2,3, Kirilina IV1,2,3, Gaponov AM2, Khusnutdinova DR4, Grigoryeva TV4, Teplyakova ED5, Makarov VV6, Yudin SM6, Shestopalov AV1,2,3
About authors

1 Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

2 Center for Digital and Translational Biomedicine, Center for Molecular Health, Moscow, Russia

3 The National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology, Moscow, Russia

4 Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia

5 Rostov State Medical University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

6 Center for Strategic Planning and Management of Biomedical Health Risks, Moscow, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Irina V. Kirilina
Ostrovityanova, 1, Moscow, 117997, Russia; ur.kb@aniri-anilirik

About paper

Funding: the work was done in the context of agreement #0373100122119000041 under the Project "Compilation of a bank of blood serum and faecal samples from healthy donors and patients with obesity, metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes mellitus, disrupted intestinal mucosal barrier, with the aim of identifying candidate species-specific mediators of the human microbiota quorum sensing systems modulating endocrine and metabolic functions of adipose tissue."

Author contribution: Shestopalov AV, Roumiantsev SA — idea of the study, experiment planning, manuscript writing, editing; Yudin SM, Makarov VV — idea of the study, editing; Gaponov AM — idea, experiment planning, manuscript editing; Kirilina IV — idea, experiment planning, data processing, manuscript writing, editing; Grigoryeva TV — planning, data collection, data processing, editing; Teplyakova ED — experiment planning, manuscript editing; Khusnutdinova DR — data collection.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University (Minutes #186 of June 26, 2019) and Local Ethics Committee of Rostov State Medical University (Minutes #20/19 of December 12, 2019). To be included in the study, all patients and their parents mandatorily signed voluntary informed consent forms.

Received: 2023-10-13 Accepted: 2023-11-25 Published online: 2023-12-23
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Adipose tissue, being  a source of chronic low-grade inflammation, activates cells of the immune system by producing cytokines and chemokines. The balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory molecules and their relationship with blood bacterial DNA in obese children and adolescents has not been studied sufficiently. This study aimed to find patterns of interaction between fractions of bacterial families in healthy and obese children, analyze cytokine levels and their relationship with blood bacterial DNA content, evaluate alpha diversity of blood microbiome and similarities of blood and fecal microbiomes. We examined 163 individuals (children and adolescents), who were divided into 2 groups, obese (n = 80, obesity classes I through III) and healthy (n = 83). The material sampled and studied was venous blood. Only individuals that have not been taking antibiotics, pro- and prebiotics for at least 3 months before the study were included. The methods employed were multiplex ELISA (enzyme immunoassay) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing (region V3–V4). From the angle of bacterial families, we found differences in their content (fractions) in blood microbiome and the frequency of isolation of their DNA therein. Nineteen  families accounted for over three quarters of all bacterial DNA identified in the blood. In obese children, one of the dominating roles was played by Ruminococcaceae, with their DNA a key part of the microbiome's alpha diversity, while in healthy participants this could be said about Bacteroidaceae. Analyzing beta diversity, we found that in obese children, fecal and blood microbiomes differed significantly, which indicates, mainly, extra-intestinal translocation of bacterial DNA. Obese children exhibited increased content of IL17A (p = 0.017) and PD-L1 (p = 0.021); there were differences in blood microbiome between groups. We identified the patterns of interaction between bacterial DNA fractions, and assessed cytokine levels.

Keywords: inflammation, cytokines, children, obesity, bacterial DNA, blood microbiome, PD-L1

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