The gut microbiota in experimental abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a life-threatening disease and there are no effective treatments to inhibit aneurysm progression and rupture. The gut microbiota has been increasingly recognized, as a new therapeutic target, because of its role in host homeostasis. However, the role of the gut microbiota in AAA has not been clarified. Therefore, we performed 16S rRNA analysis to determine and compare the composition of the gut microbiota between AAA and control groups. We used the classical angiotensin-II induced AAA mouse model to investigate the role of gut microbiota and abdominal aortic aneurysm. The mice were randomly assigned to 2 groups: the control ( = 7) group received saline (vehicle), while the AAA ( = 13) group received solutions of Ang II. Aortic tissue and fecal samples were harvested 28 days after infusion. Fecal samples were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing. The levels of , and were increased in the AAA group, while those of , and were increased in the control group. Furthermore, network analysis and ZiPi score assessment highlighted species in the phylum as the keystone species. PICRUSt2 analysis revealed that PWY-6629 (a super pathway of L-tryptophan biosynthesis), PWY-7446 (sulfoglycolysis), and PWY-6165 [chorismate biosynthesis II (archaea)] may-be involved in the metabolic pathways that contribute to AAA formation, and / may be the key bacteria that influence those three pathways. Alterations in the gut microbiota may be associated with the formation of AAA. and were significantly decreased in the AAA group, but the keystone species in the phylum and the metabolic products of these bacteria should be given more attention in AAA formation research.