Bacterial genotoxins in action: linking microbiota composition to clastogenic effects in human blood leukocytes

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the sputum microbiome composition and the level of chromosome damage in blood leukocytes of lung cancer patients. The bacterial microbiome composition of sputum, as well as the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in blood leukocytes of 150 patients diagnosed with lung cancer and 104 healthy donors were studied. The results of NGS sequencing of the V3-V4 amplicon of the 16S rRNA gene showed that the sputum of lung cancer patients has signs of dysbiosis with a simultaneous increase in the content of bacteria of the genus Streptococcus. In patients with lung cancer and in the control, a direct relationship was found between the frequency of aberrant metaphases in lymphocytes and the content of representatives of the genus Streptobacillus in sputum. Only in patients were there positive correlations between the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and the content of bacteria of the phylum Fusobacteria, the genera Bacteroides and Leptotrichia. The results obtained indicate the presence of a genotoxic effect of a number of bacteria inhabiting the human respiratory tract. Future studies should be aimed at identifying the clastogenic potential of bacteria within the gut microbiome of colorectal cancer patients.