Biology subjects

Fiorillo, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Fiorillo, S..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

The impact of western versus agrarian diet consumption on gut microbiome composition and immune dysfunction in people living with HIV in rural and urban Zimbabwe

BackgroundPeople living with HIV (PLWH) suffer from chronic inflammation even with effective antiretroviral therapy (ART). A high-fat, low-fiber western-type diet has been linked with inflammation, in part through gut microbiome changes. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region with high HIV burden, urbanization has been linked with a shift from traditional agrarian towards westernized diets, and with changes in food security. To explore the relationship between diet, inflammation, and the gut microbiome in PLWH, we enrolled 1) ART Naive PLWH who provided samples before and after 24 weeks of ART, 2) PLWH on ART at both timepoints and 3) HIV-seronegative controls. Individuals were evenly recruited from rural and urban Zimbabwe (locations were 145 kilometers/90 miles apart). Using a food frequency survey designed to measure intake of agrarian versus western-type food items in Zimbabwe, we determined how diet differs with urbanization, HIV-infection and treatment, and is related to inflammation and the gut microbiome. ResultsIndividuals residing in a rural area of Zimbabwe less frequently consumed high-fat, low-fiber western type food items and had lower consumption of diverse food items overall, except for sadza-a subsistence staple-processed from home-grown grains. Consumption of a more western-type diet correlated with lower CD4+ T cell percentage in untreated and treated PLWH and with increased T cell exhaustion in PLWH on ART. PLWH on ART at time of enrollment also consumed diverse food items at a lower frequency and more often were underweight. Low food consumption correlated with muted improvements in T cell exhaustion after 24 weeks of ART. Individuals residing in the rural area had more Prevotella-rich/Bacteroides-poor microbiomes, but this did was not significantly mediated by diet. western diet consumption reduced the diversity of carbohydrate substrate degradation capabilities in the microbiome, based on predictions made using metagenomic polysaccharide utilization loci. ConclusionsTaken together, this work supports that consumption of more high-fat/low-fiber type food items has the potential to exacerbate HIV pathogenesis in a sub-Saharan setting where HIV burden is high and reinforces the importance of nutritional support for promoting immunologic response to ART in PLWH in SSA.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2021

Systems analysis of gut microbiome influence on metabolic disease in HIV and high-risk populations

Poor metabolic health, characterized by insulin resistance and dyslipidemia, is higher in people living with HIV and has been linked with inflammation, anti-retroviral therapy (ART) drugs, and ART-associated lipodystrophy (LD). Metabolic disease is associated with gut microbiome composition outside the context of HIV but has not been deeply explored in HIV infection nor in high-risk men who have sex with men (HR-MSM), who have a highly altered gut microbiome composition. Furthermore, the contribution of increased bacterial translocation and associated systemic inflammation that has been described in HIV-positive and HR-MSM individuals has not been explored. We used a multi-omic approach to explore relationships between impaired metabolic health, defined using fasting blood markers, gut microbes, immune phenotypes and diet. Our cohort included ART-treated HIV positive MSM with and without LD, untreated HIV positive MSM, and HR-MSM. For HIV positive MSM on ART, we further explored associations with the plasma metabolome. We found that elevated plasma lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) was the most important predictor of impaired metabolic health and network analysis showed that LBP formed a hub joining correlated microbial and immune predictors of metabolic disease. Taken together, our results suggest the role of inflammatory processes linked with bacterial translocation and interaction with the gut microbiome in metabolic disease among HIV positive and negative MSM. Importance StatementThe gut microbiome in people living with HIV (PLWH) is of interest as chronic infection often results in long term comorbidities. Metabolic disease is prevalent in PLWH even in well-controlled infection and has been linked with the gut microbiome in previous studies, but little attention has been given to PLWH. Furthermore, integrated analyses that consider gut microbiome together with diet, systemic immune activation, metabolites, and demographics have been lacking. In a systems-level analysis of predictors of metabolic disease in PLWH and men who are at high risk of acquiring HIV, we found that increased LBP, an inflammatory marker indicative of compromised intestinal barrier function, was associated with worse metabolic health. We also found impaired metabolic health associated with specific dietary components, gut microbes, and host and microbial metabolites. This work lays the framework for mechanistic studies aimed at targeting the microbiome to prevent or treat metabolic endotoxemia in HIV-infected individuals.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2018

An exploration of Prevotella-rich microbiomes in HIV and men who have sex with men

BackgroundGut microbiome characteristics associated with HIV infection are of intense research interest but a deep understanding has been challenged by confounding factors across studied populations. Notably, a Prevotella-rich microbiome described in HIV-infected populations is now understood to be common in men who have sex with men (MSM) regardless of HIV status, but driving factors and potential health implications are unknown.\n\nResultsHere we further define the MSM-associated gut microbiome and describe compositional differences between the fecal microbiomes of Prevotella-rich MSM and non-MSM that may underlie observed pro-inflammatory properties. Furthermore, we show relatively subtle gut microbiome changes in HIV infection in MSM and women that include an increase in potential pathogens that is ameliorated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Lastly, using a longitudinal cohort, we describe microbiome changes that happen after ART initiation.\n\nConclusionsThis study provides an in-depth characterization of microbiome differences that occur in a US population infected with HIV and demonstrates the degree to which these differences may be driven by lifestyle factors, ART and HIV infection itself. Understanding microbiome compositions that occur with sexual behaviors that are high-risk for acquiring HIV and untreated and ART-treated HIV infection will guide the investigation of immune and metabolic functional implications to ultimately target the microbiome therapeutically.

microbiology↗