Microbial Dysbiosis in the Gut of SIV Acutely and Chronically Infected Macaques

Persistent immune activation is a major driver of HIV-1 pathogenesis, of which gut bacterial dysbiosis is thought to be one of the contributing factors. In this study we characterized microbial dysbiosis in the gut of SIV acutely and chronically infected macaques. We analyzed gut bacterial microbiota in both cross-sectional and longitudinal samples from SIV infected macaques using next-gen sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The cross-sectional study included 111 fecal samples collected from the rectum (n=65) and jejunum (n=46) at acute and chronic SIV infection; the longitudinal study included rectum fecal samples (n=37) collected from 6 animals from acute to chronic SIV infection up to 24 weeks post infection. We also examined the relationship of gut bacterial dysbiosis, plasma viral load, microbial translocation, and peripheral blood immune cell populations.