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World J Nephrol. Jun 25, 2026; 15(2): 118343
Published online Jun 25, 2026. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v15.i2.118343
Published online Jun 25, 2026. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v15.i2.118343
Gut microbiota in a Saudi population with chronic kidney disease
Afnan A Almuhanna, Department of Radiology, King Fahd Hospital of the University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Chittibabu Vatte, Alawi H Habara, Cyril Cyrus, Amein K Al-Ali, Department of Clinical Bioche
Qian Guo, Brendan J Keating, Division of Transplantation, Department of Surgery, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, United States
Tamer S Elsalamouni, Fahd A Al-Muhanna, Rudaynah A Alali, Kaltham M Alfalah, Ibrahiem Saeed Abdul-Rahman, Department of Internal Medicine, King Fahd Hospital of the University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Ameen M Aboalrihy, Department of Internal Medicine, Qatif Health Network Eastern Province, Qatif 32654, Saudi Arabia
Hassan A Alhabib, Department of Internal Medicine, Jubail General Hospital, Jubail 35514, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed F Almomen, Department of Internal Medicine, King Fahd Hospital, Alahssa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed A Alrubaish, Department of Ophthalmology, King Fahd Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Chan Wang, Division of Biostatistics, Department of Population Health, New York University Langone Health, New York, NY 10061, United States
Author contributions: Almuhanna AA, Elsalamouni TS, Al-Muhanna FA, Keating BJ, and Al-Ali AK contributed to conceptualization, funding, writing original manuscript and editing; Elsalamouni TS, Aboalrihy AM, Almomen MF, Alali RA, Alfalah KM, and Abdul-Rahman IS contributed to investigation and supervision; Vatte C, Guo Q, Habara AH, Cyrus C, and Al-Ali AK contributed to data curation, administration, visualization, analysis, and interpretation; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Deanship of scientific Research at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, No. 2020-182-MED.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, approval No. IRB-2020-01-277.
Informed consent statement: All the patients provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated during the current study are available in the European Variation Archive repository (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB105038), with accession number PRJEB105038. All requests for data can be sent to the corresponding author (Dr. Amein Al-Ali) and verified academic investigators will be granted full access.
Corresponding author: Amein K Al-Ali, PhD, Professor, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Building A72, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia.
Received: December 30, 2025
Revised: February 7, 2026
Accepted: March 9, 2026
Published online: June 25, 2026
Processing time: 167 Days and 19.7 Hours
Revised: February 7, 2026
Accepted: March 9, 2026
Published online: June 25, 2026
Processing time: 167 Days and 19.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In a Saudi cohort, the gut microbiota clearly differed between controls, chronic kidney disease patients, and patients on hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD). Simple microbial risk scores (area under the curve > 0.9) accurately distinguished chronic kidney disease patients, HD patients, and PD patients from controls, suggesting its potential as a noninvasive biomarker. The PD microbiota was characterized by reduced diversity, increased abundance of Proteobacteria and virulence factors, weaker microbial networks, and a proinflammatory profile. In contrast, partial restoration of a healthier microbiome was observed in HD patients, with increased short-chain fatty acid production and reduced lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, indicating dialysis modality-specific effects on the gut microbiome and potential targets for microbiome-based interventions.