Intestinal Microbiota Changes in Individuals Living with HIV and the Effect of Antiretroviral Therapy

Abstract HIV is one of the chronic infectious diseases that can be treated with the use of new generation antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HIV is closely associated with gastrointestinal diseases, changes in intestinal microbiota and inflammation. Therefore, we aimed to investigate changes in the gut microbiota in HIV-infected and uninfected populations living in Turkey. The study included 15 patients living with HIV and 10 healthy volunteers. Participants living with HIV were studied at baseline and again at least 3 months after treatment. Both blood and fecal samples were collected from all participants. For intestinal microbiota analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequence was analyzed. There was a significant difference between individuals living with HIV and healthy volunteers in terms of intestinal microbiota. While there was a significant decrease in the number of alpha diversity, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria in individuals living with HIV; Faecalibacterium, Prevotella, Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, Ruminococcus increased. Post-treatment improvements in intestinal microbiota were observed in individuals living with HIV receiving HAART with an increase in the number of Phascolarctobacterium and Blautia compared to the pretreatment period (naive patients). Improvement in intestinal microbiota was partially observed after treatment.