Impaired exercise tolerance and lung function is a marker for increased mortality
in lung cancer patients undergoing lung resection surgery. Recent data suggest that
the gut-lung axis regulates systemic metabolic and immune functions, and microbiota
might alter exercise tolerance. Here, we aimed to evaluate the associations between
gut microbiota and outcomes in lung cancer patients who underwent lung resection surgery.
We analysed stool samples, from 15 early-stage lung cancer patients, collected before
and after surgical resection using shotgun metagenomic and Internal Transcribed Spacer
(ITS) sequencing. We analysed microbiome and mycobiome associations with post-surgery
lung function and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to assess the maximum level
of work achieved. There was a significant difference, between pre- and post-surgical
resection samples, in microbial community functional profiles and several species
from Alistipes and Bacteroides genus, associated with the production of SCFAs, increased
significantly in abundance. Interestingly, an increase in VO2 coincides with an increase
in certain species and the "GABA shunt" pathway, suggesting that treatment outcome
might improve by enriching butyrate-producing species. Here, we revealed associations
between specific gut bacteria, fungi, and their metabolic pathways with the recovery
of lung function and exercise capacity.
