Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Iranian Diabetic, Pre-diabetic and Healthy Individuals.

Background: Type 2 diabetes, as the most prevalent metabolic disorder, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Recent studies showed a significant association between intestinal microbiota and type 2 diabetes. These studies have shared evidences that alteration in the composition of intestinal microbiota can disrupt the balance of the host homeostasis and lead to metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes. In the present study, we compared the intestinal microbiota composition in three groups of type 2 diabetes patients, pre-diabetic patients and healthy individuals of Iranian population.

Methods: After obtaining informed consent, stool samples were collected from 90 individuals of three studied groups. The DNA was extracted using column-based method. Intestinal microbiota composition was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR using specific bacterial 16S rRNA primers. The difference of bacterial load was compared between three groups.

Results: The prevalence of and species in healthy group was higher than type 2 diabetes group ( 0.006 and 0.001, respectively). In contrast, the load of ( 0.044), ( 0.005), and ( 0.017) in type 2 diabetes group, and the frequency of ( 0.001) and ( 0.004) in pre-diabetic group was significantly higher than healthy group. Moreover, the frequency of in healthy group was significantly higher compared to two other groups ( 0.005).

Conclusion: There is a correlation between intestinal microbiota composition and type 2 diabetes. Determination and restoration of this microbiota composition pattern may have a possible role in prevention and control of type 2 diabetes in a certain population.