FadA-positive Fusobacterium nucleatum is prevalent in the biopsy specimens of Iranian patients with colorectal cancer. New Microbes and New Infections.
Abstract
Introduction
FadA-positive Fusobacterium nucleatum : Recently, Fusobacterium nucleatum has been increasingly implicated as a causative agent of various diseases, e.g., inflammatory bowel disease. Moreover, the gastrointestinal tracts of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) also have been shown to be colonized by this bacterium. Here, we aimed to determine the prevalence of F. nucleatum among the CRC and non-CRC Iranian patients and investigate potential associations between fadA-positive F. nucleatum and diagnosed CRC cases.
Methods
Eighty patients, who were admitted to two main hospitals in Tehran, Iran, were enrolled. The patients were aged between 20 and 75 years and were diagnosed by a gastroenterologist. All patients signed their informed consent forms before participating. A trained surgeon used standard surgical protocols to collect two CRC biopsy samples per patient. One of the samples was used for pathological examination and the other subjected to DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction. Finally, lesion colonization by F. nucleatum and expression of its major virulence factor, fadA, were investigated.
Results
The fadA-positive F. nucleatum strain was absent in all the lesions obtained from non-CRC patients. All patients with lesions that were colonized with fadA-positive F. nucleatum were diagnosed as CRC (P < 0.05); selected patients were sent for further intensive treatment. We found a significant association between the presence of F. nucleatum colonization and lesions from the CRC patients [P = 0.0001; Odd Ratio: 6.74; (95% CI: 2.5–18.07)].
Conclusion
Our study has confirmed colonization of the fadA-positive F. nucleatum on lesions from 80 Iranian CRC patients. New therapeutic strategies to achieve eradication of F. nucleatum are necessary for clinical management of cases suspected of, or prone to developing, CRC. In FadA-positive Fusobacterium nucleatum is prevalent in the biopsy specimens of Iranian patients with colorectal cancer New Microbes and New Infections. 2020 Jan ….