The gut microbiome of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) who are sarcopenic is enriched with bacterial populations expressing pathways associated with a catabolic state, according to results of a study presented at IKCS North America 2022.
The goal of this study was to evaluate whether patients with mRCC and sarcopenia had different gut microbial characteristics compared with patients who had mRCC and did not develop sarcopenia.
To that end, investigators analyzed stool samples and computed tomography images from 62 patients with mRCC. The patients had a median age of 69 (range, 33-93) years, 73% were men, they had a mean BMI of 26.7 kg/m2, 85% were White, and 74.2% had an ECOG performance status score of 0.
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A total of 27 patients were sarcopenic. Sarcopenia was associated with Parabacteroides distasonis and Dialister species. The absence of sarcopenia was associated with Bacteroides vulgatus, Collinsella aerofaciens, Streptococcaceae species, and Monoglobus species.
In a functional pathway analysis, gluconeogenesis I (P =.008652), methanogenesis from acetate (P =.040825), and tricarboxylic acid cycle VII acetate producers (P =.040698) were associated with sarcopenia. Colonic acid building blocks biosynthesis (P =.032907) was associated with the absence of sarcopenia.
“This is the first study examining the association between sarcopenia and metabolic expression of the gut microbiome in patients with mRCC,” the study authors concluded. “Distinct bacterial populations appear to express metabolic pathways associated with a catabolic state in mRCC patients with sarcopenia.”
Disclosures: The study authors did not provide disclosures.
Reference
Chawla N, Zengin Z, Lee K, et al. Metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiome in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients with sarcopenia. Presented at IKCS North America 2022. November 4-5, 2022. Abstract 45.
