Gwen Duytschaever

Publications (2)6.88 Total impact

• Article: Dysbiosis of bifidobacteria and Clostridium cluster XIVa in the cystic fibrosis fecal microbiota.

  Gwen Duytschaever, Geert Huys, Maarten Bekaert, Linda Boulanger, Kris De Boeck, Peter Vandamme
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  ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Recurrent antimicrobial interventions and disease-related intestinal dysfunction are suspected to contribute to the dysbiosis of the gastrointestinal microbial ecosystem in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The present study set out to detect and identify microbial discriminants in the gut microbiota composition that are associated with CF-related intestinal dysbiosis. METHODS: An in-depth description of CF-associated gut dysbiosis was obtained by screening denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprints for potentially discriminating bacterial species, and quantification by means of real-time PCR analyses using group-specific primers. RESULTS: A total of 8 DGGE band-classes assigned to the genus Bifidobacterium (n=3), and members of Clostridium clusters XIVa (n=3) and IV (n=2), were significantly (p<0.05) underrepresented in samples of patients with CF. Real-time PCR analyses confirmed a significantly lower abundance and temporal stability of bifidobacteria and Clostridium cluster XIVa in the fecal microbiota of patients with CF. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to report specific microbial determinants of dysbiosis in patients with CF.
  Journal of cystic fibrosis: official journal of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society 11/2012; · 3.19 Impact Factor
• Article: Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparisons of the predominant fecal microbiota compositions of a group of pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis and their healthy siblings.

  Gwen Duytschaever, Geert Huys, Maarten Bekaert, Linda Boulanger, Kris De Boeck, Peter Vandamme
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  ABSTRACT: Although only poorly documented, it can be assumed that intensive antibiotic treatments of chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) also affect the diversity and metabolic functioning of the gastrointestinal microbiota and potentially lead to a state of dysbiosis. A better knowledge of the differences in gut microbiota composition and stability between patients with CF and healthy subjects could lead to optimization of current antibiotic therapies and/or development of add-on therapies. Using conventional culturing and population fingerprinting by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA amplicons, we compared the predominant fecal microbiota of 21 patients with CF and 24 healthy siblings in a cross-sectional study. General medium counts, as well as counts on media specific for lactic acid bacteria, clostridia, Bifidobacterium spp., Veillonella spp., and Bacteroides-Prevotella spp., were consistently higher in sibling samples than in CF samples, whereas the reverse was found for enterobacterial counts. DGGE fingerprinting uncovered large intersubject variations in both study groups. On the other hand, the cross-sectional data indicated that the predominant fecal microbiota of patients and siblings had comparable species richness. In addition, a longitudinal study was performed on 7 or 8 consecutive samples collected over a 2-year period from two patients and their respective siblings. For these samples, DGGE profiling indicated an overall trend toward lower temporal stability and lower species richness in the predominant fecal CF microbiota. The observed compositional and dynamic perturbations provide the first evidence of a general dysbiosis in children with CF compared to their siblings.
  Applied and environmental microbiology 09/2011; 77(22):8015-24. · 3.69 Impact Factor