Gastric microbiota and Helicobacter pylori in Indonesian population

Abstract Background The profile of gastric mucosal microbiota has not yet been described in the Indonesian population where the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori is low. Methods This is a cross‐sectional study analyzing 16S rRNA of 137 gastric biopsy specimens. We analyzed the association between gastric microbiota, H. pylori infection, and gastric mucosal damage. Result Among 137 analyzed samples, 27 were H. pylori ‐positive and 110 were H. pylori ‐negative based on culture, histology, and 16S rRNA gene analysis. Significantly lower α‐diversity parameters, including Pielou's index, was observed in H. pylori ‐infected individuals compared with noninfected individuals (all P < .001). Among H. pylori ‐negative individuals, the permutational analysis of variance of Bray‐Curtis dissimilarity distances showed a significant association with different ethnicities, suggesting some ethnic groups had specific microbiota profiles based on the presence of different operational taxonomic units. The linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) of the H. pylori‐ negative group showed significant associations between the presence of Micrococcus luteus and Sphingomonas yabuuchiae with Timor and Papuan ethnicities, respectively. The presence of Bulledia sp and Atopobium sp was associated with the Javanese ethnicity. We observed lower α‐diversity scores in individuals with gastric mucosal damage and profiles with high abundances of Paludibacter sp and Dialister sp based on LEfSe analysis. Conclusion Our findings suggest the presence of H. pylori is more correlated with a distinct microbiome profile than ethnic precedence.