Multi-kingdom characterization of the gut microbiota in patients with gouty arthritis

The dysbiotic gut microbial composition has been associated with autoimmune diseases in humans, especially patients with arthritis. However, the holistic investigation of the gut bacteriome, mycobiome, and virome in patients with gouty arthritis (GA) remains unclear. In this study, we characterized the multi-kingdom gut microbiome of 25 GA patients and 28 healthy subjects via whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing of their stool samples. We found that the gut bacteriome, mycobiome, and virome of GA patients were substantially altered, characterized by a panel of 1,117 differentially abundant bacterial species, 23 fungal species, and 4,115 viral operational taxonomic units. Our findings uncovered the fecal bacteriome, mycobiome, and virome features of the GA microbiota, which may promote future mechanistic and therapeutic works.