Dysbiosis of gut microbiota and decreased propionic acid associated with metabolic abnormality in Cushing’s syndrome

Abstract

ObjectiveChronic hypercortisolism leads to a phenotype resembling metabolic syndrome. We aimed to investigate the association between gut microbiota and metabolic abnormalities in endogenous hypercortisolism (Cushing’s syndrome).MethodsA total of 23 patients with Cushing’s syndrome (18 female and 5 men, aged 47.24 ± 12.99 years) and 30 age-, sex-and BMI-matched healthy controls (18 female and 12 men, aged 45.03 ± 6.69 years) were consecutively recruited. Differences in gut microbiota and plasma short-chain fatty acid (SCFAs) concentrations between the Cushing’s syndrome patients and controls were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).ResultsCompared to the controls, the Simpson and Pielou indices of α diversity were dramatically decreased in Cushing’s syndrome (P < 0.05). The gut microbiota community structure differed significantly between Cushing’s syndrome patients and controls. Compared to controls, the bacterial communities of the Cushing’s syndrome patients were enriched in Proteobacteria and Escherichia-Shigella, and depleted in Firmicutes, including Agathobacter, Blautia, Anaerostipes, Eubacterium_eligens_group, and Lachnospira. Spearman analysis demonstrated that HbA1c, SBP, DBP, and cortisol levels were significantly positively correlated with Proteobacteria and Escherichia-Shigella, whereas negatively correlated with Agathobacter, Blautia, Anaerostipes, Eubacterium_hallii_group, and Lachnospira, etc. Cushing’s syndrome patients also had a lower propionic acid concentration (0.151±0.054 vs. 0.205±0.032 µg/mL, P=0.039) than controls. Furthermore, the level of propionic acid was negatively correlated with systolic pressure and cortisol levels (P<0.05).ConclusionGut microbiota dysbiosis and decreased propionic acid levels were observed in patients with Cushing’s, suggesting that the gut microbiota may be a potential therapeutic intervention target to improve hypercortisolism-related metabolic abnormalities.