Changes of intestinal flora in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in northeast China

Objective The human gut harbors diverse microbes that play a fundamental role in the well-being of their hosts. Microbes can cause autoimmunity, trigger autoimmunity in genetically susceptible individuals or prevent autoimmunity. There were reports about intestinal flora changes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients, but no data were available in northeast China. In this study, we investigated the intestinal flora changes of SLE patients in Heilongjiang province located in northeast China. Methods Feces from 16 SLE patients and 14 healthy volunteers were employed to extract bacterial DNA, amplify 16s RNA of bacteria, and analyze the biological information by sequencing. The statistical analysis used the SPSS version of 17. Result We found that there were 1 phylums, 4 families and 9 genera in the intestinal flora of SLE patients. And the nine differences genera can be used to distinguish SLE patients from normal people. Conclusion We found an increase of Proteobacteria and a decrease of Ruminococcaceae in SLE patients in different regions. In addition, we found that some proteins, enzymes, and diseases were significantly associated with SLE.