Characteristics of Gut Microbiota in Patients With Diabetes Determined by Data Mining Analysis of Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to clarify whether gut microbiota obtained from fecal samples could identify the type of diabetes in patients of each gender by using a combination of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis and data mining. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed at three centers. Fecal samples were collected from 12 Japanese patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), 18 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and 31 subjects without diabetes mellitus (non-DM). Amplification of fecal 16S rRNA was carried out. After digestion of the amplification products with restriction enzymes (AluI, BslI, HaeIII, and MspI), terminal restriction fragments (T-RFs) of DNA were detected. A data mining algorithm (classification and regression tree (CART) modeling system) provides a decision tree that classifies subjects into various groups according to pre-assigned characteristics. RESULTS: Among men, the error rate was 2.4% with MspI, while error rates were 0.0% with other restriction enzymes. Among women, the error rate was 0.0% with all restriction enzymes. The operational taxonomic units (OTUs) incorporated into the decision tree differed between men and women. CONCLUSIONS: We were able to classify the 16SrRNA gene amplification products obtained from fecal samples of T1D patients, T2D patients, and non-DM subjects with a high level of precision by combining T-RFLP analysis and data mining. Specific gut microbiota patterns were found for T1D and T2D patients, as well as a sex difference of the patterns.