Background: A non-endoscopic capsule-sponge device allows sampling the entire length of the esophagus. Here, we compared microbiomes of the oral cavity, esophagus, and gastric corpus collected by oral swab, capsule-sponge device, and endoscopic biopsy, respectively, in patients representing three distinct risk profiles for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods: The study enrolled 11 patients with esophageal squamous intraepithelial neoplasia, 21 patients after curative treatment for head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) (HNSCC survivors), and 40 patients with functional dyspeptic (FD) symptoms. Microbial genomic DNA was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Results: The Shannon index of the capsule-sponge sample microbiota was significantly higher in FD group than in patients after treatment for HNSCC, and the Chao index of gastric samples differed between HNSCC survivors and FD patients. Analysis of the β-diversity of FD patients, HNSCC, and esophageal squamous intraepithelial neoplasia showed that different genera formed at each location. The abundance of 205, 116, and 9 genera differed between FD patients and HNSCC survivors in the gastric, capsule-sponge, and oral samples, respectively; 33 genera differed between the FD group and patients with esophageal squamous intraepithelial neoplasia in capsule-sponge samples. Conclusions: The bacterial communities of the upper digestive tract were clustered according to the anatomic site. Despite substantial differences in gastric and esophageal microbiota samples between FD patients and HNSCC survivors, the microbial members and diversity showed small differences between FD patients and those with esophageal squamous intraepithelial neoplasia. It remains unclear whether gastric and esophageal dysbiosis is associated with or is a consequence of treatment for HNSCC.
背景：非内镜胶囊海绵装置可对食管全长进行采样。本研究分别采用口腔拭子、胶囊海绵装置及内镜活检，采集了代表食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）三种不同风险特征患者的口腔、食管及胃体微生物组样本并进行比较。方法：研究纳入11例食管鳞状上皮内瘤变患者、21例头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）治愈后患者（HNSCC生存者）及40例功能性消化不良（FD）患者。采用16S rRNA基因扩增子测序分析微生物基因组DNA。结果：FD组胶囊海绵样本微生物群的香农指数显著高于HNSCC治疗后患者，胃样本的Chao指数在HNSCC生存者与FD患者间存在差异。对FD患者、HNSCC患者及食管鳞状上皮内瘤变患者的β多样性分析显示，不同解剖部位形成差异菌属。胃、胶囊海绵及口腔样本中分别有205、116和9个菌属在FD患者与HNSCC生存者间存在丰度差异；胶囊海绵样本中有33个菌属在FD组与食管鳞状上皮内瘤变患者间存在差异。结论：上消化道细菌群落按解剖部位聚集。尽管FD患者与HNSCC生存者的胃和食管微生物组样本存在显著差异，但FD患者与食管鳞状上皮内瘤变患者的微生物组成及多样性差异较小。胃食管菌群失调是否与HNSCC治疗相关或是其治疗后果，目前尚未明确。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家