Gut mycobiome dysbiosis in rats showing retinal changes indicative of diabetic retinopathy

PLoS One. 2022 Apr 19;17(4):e0267080. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267080. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The current study compared the gut mycobiomes of diabetic rats generated by a streptozotocin chemical challenge, diabetic rats with retinal changes and normal control rats over a period of 4 months. Sustained increase in blood sugar levels (>150 mg/dL) confirmed the induction of diabetes. Histology and immunohistochemistry were used to identify changes in the retinal tissues in the diabetic rats indicative of the animals progressing into diabetic retinopathy. Gut mycobiomes generated using faecal DNA, indicated dysbiosis at the genus level in both diabetic (DM) and diabetic rats with retinal changes (DRC) when compared with the control rats. In Tables 3-6 the specific genera that were significantly increased/decreased in DM1 and DM2 and in DRC1 and DRC2 respectively compared to the respective controls CT1-CT4 rats are listed. Further, the mycobiomes of the DM and DRC rats separated into distinct clusters following heat-map analysis of the discriminating genera. In addition, β-diversity analysis separated the mycobiomes of DM and DRC rats from that of the control rats, but the mycobiomes of diabetic rats and diabetic rats with retinal changes showed an overlap. Based on the inferred functions of the discriminating genera in the mycobiomes, we speculated that increase in pathogenic fungi might contribute to the inflammatory status both in diabetic rats and rats showing retinal changes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental* / complications
  • Diabetic Retinopathy*
  • Dysbiosis / microbiology
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Mycobiome*
  • Rats

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Brien Holden Eye Research Centre and Hyderabad eye research foundation, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad 500034, India, and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (grant No: EMR/2017/000815, August 2018), India. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.