Relationship of Mogibacterium in the gut microbiota with early-stage lung cancer

Aims To investigate gut microbiota abundance and diversity in early-stage lung cancer patients. Methods and results Patients with benign lung nodules or early-stage lung cancer and healthy individuals were consecutively recruited. Inflammatory factors in venous blood were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Gut microbiota richness and diversity were assessed by 16S rDNA sequencing. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) concentrations in fecal samples were quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results demonstrated that gut microbiota richness and diversity decreased in patients with benign lung nodules. Principal component analysis identified no remarkable differences among the three groups (P > .05). The linear discriminant analysis effect size algorithm determined increased abundances of Mogibacterium in the lung cancer group; Bacillales_Incertae_Sedis_XI, Gemella, Peptostreptococcus, and Bacteroides sp. AN 5745 in the lung nodule group; and Deltaproteobacteria, Desulfovibrionales, Desulfovibrionaceae, Alphaproteobacteria, Rhodospirillales, Acetivibrio, Sutterella, and Eisenbergiella in the healthy group. SCFA concentrations and inflammatory factors did not significantly differ among groups. Conclusions Patients with early-stage lung cancer displayed increased Mogibacterium abundance. No significant differences were observed in SCFA or inflammatory marker concentrations.