The composition of the gut microbiome in patients with sarcopenia

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to predict sarcopenia by analyzing the composition of the gut microbiota. Methods: We collected fecal samples for 16S rRNA sequencing, then we used the data results to analyze the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota and calculated the relationship between biochemical indexes and the microbiota. Results: According to PCA and heatmap analysis, the characteristics of patients could be divided into two categories. Moreover, the P/B (Prevotella/Bacteroides) ratio of the sarcopenia group was higher than that of the control group in terms of relative abundance. A box plot based on the Chao1 and observed OTU values indicated both the relative abundance and diversity of the gut microbiota in sarcopenia patients were lower than those in the control group. After we applied binary logistic regression and ROC curve analysis to the data, we confirmed that three indexes (P/B value, Coprococcus, and Lachnospiraceae) could be used to predict sarcopenia. Conclusions: We can distinguish sarcopenia patients through the gut microbiota P/B index (over 1.7), the relative amount of Coprococcus (1.00–3.70%), and the relative amount of Lachnospiraceae (0.00–1.68%). Sarcopenia can be predicted with the help of the gut micro-community, which provides an improvement in methodology.