Comparative Analysis of Gut Microbiota Composition and Functionality from Rectal Swab versus Fecal Samples
10.3870/j.issn.1672-0741.24.12.033
- VernacularTitle:直肠拭子与粪便取样两种途径采集的标本中肠道微生物群组成及功能对比分析
- Author:
Yanhui LI
1
;
Tang'ansu ZHANG
1
;
Jinhua CHEN
1
Author Information
1. 华中科技大学同济医学院附属协和医院妇产科,武汉 430022
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
gut microbiota;
rectal swab;
fecal samples;
specimen handling;
taxonomic profiling;
diversity analy-sis
- From:
Acta Medicinae Universitatis Scientiae et Technologiae Huazhong
2025;54(5):617-625
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective Rectal swab or endoscopic biopsy is currently the commonly used method for collecting gut microbio-ta specimens.However,these two sampling methods still have many limitations in specimen acquisition,transportation,and stor-age.Rectal swab is a frequently used sampling method in clinical practice.Previous studies have suggested the potential value of rectal swabs in obtaining gut microbiota specimens,but more evidence is needed to support its promotion and application.In this study,we aimed to explore whether rectal swabs could serve as reliable alternative specimen collection method to fecal sam-pling.Methods Fifteen healthy female subjects were included,and rectal swabs and fecal samples were obtained simultaneous-ly.16S rRNA sequencing targeting the V3-4 hypervariable region was performed,and bioinformatics analysis was conducted to compare the differences in microbial composition,diversity,abundance,and functionality between the two sampling meth-ods.Results The DNA concentration in samples extracted from rectal swabs was lower than that from fecal samples[8.0(6.4,9.4)vs.112.1(82.6,150.0)ng/μL,P＜0.001].However,there were no significant differences in sequencing data,reads length and total number of amplicon sequence variants between the two sampling methods(P＞0.05 for both).Bioinformatics analysis showed no significant differences in microbial composition between rectal swabs and fecal samples(P＞0.05).Furthermore,there were no significant differences in a-diversity Shannon index[3.392(3.465,3.332)vs.2.793(2.660,3.009),P=0.064],Simpson index[0.070(0.062,0.088)vs.0.126(0.100,0.188),P=0.253],as well as β-diversity weighted UniFrac distances(P=0.700).In addition,there were no significant differences in COG functional annotation and KEGG level 1 and level 2 bio-logical pathways between rectal swabs and fecal samples(P＞0.05).Conclusion The specimens obtained from rectal swabs showed high consistency with fecal samples in gut microbiota composition,diversity,and functionality.Rectal swabs can serve as an alternative specimen collection method for fecal sampling in gut microbiota research.
