Peer-reviewed article
Long-read sequencing of rectal swabs in Rwandan children shows links between gut microbiota composition and malnutrition-associated variables
Johan Ringlander, Maria E. Andersson, Albert Ndagijimana, Théogéne Dusingizimana, Torbjörn Lind et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5Researchers studied the gut bacteria of 134 young children in Rwanda, some malnourished and some not, using rectal swab samples and DNA sequencing. They found that the diversity of gut bacteria increased with age, but was similar overall between children classified as malnourished or not. However, children who were underweight (based on a weight-for-age measure) had a different bacterial community than those who were not, including lower levels of one common bacterial species. The study suggests gut bacteria may be linked to being underweight, but says larger studies are needed to confirm this.
Key points
- Gut microbiota diversity increased significantly with child age (P < 0.0001).
- No difference in overall bacterial diversity between malnourished and non-malnourished groups as defined by the study.
- Children with WAZ < -2 (underweight) differed from those with WAZ ≥ -2 in bacterial community composition (P = 0.02).
- One abundant bacterial species showed lower relative abundance (9% vs 18%) in underweight children (p = 0.04).
- Authors call for larger studies to confirm links between gut microbiota and malnutrition.
Limitations
This is a small, cross-sectional observational study (134 children) that cannot show cause and effect between gut bacteria and malnutrition, and it does not test any intervention.
Abstract
Abstract Gut microbiome composition has been suggested as a factor in the development of malnutrition, which affects one fifth of all children. The microbiome is dependent on environmental and dietary factors, therefore studies on the gut microbiota diversity and relative abundance of bacteria in children with and without malnutrition in different geographical regions are needed. In this study, rectal swabs were collected from 134 Rwandan children 1–36 months of age with (n = 66) or without (n = 68) malnutrition. DNA was extracted from rectal swabs and the full 16S rRNA gene deep sequenced using Nanopore sequencing for analysis of the gut microbiota. Gut microbiota alpha diversity correlated positively with age ( P < 0.0001). Neither alpha nor beta diversity differed between the study-defined malnourished and non-malnourished groups, however, participants with WAZ ≥ − 2 and < − 2 differed in beta diversity analysis ( P = 0.02). The most abundant species, Peptostreptococcaceae bacterium oral taxon 929, showed an association with WAZ, in mean 18% and 9% relative abundance among those with WAZ ≥ − 2 and < − 2, respectively ( p = 0.04). Results suggested that the gut microbiota might be associated with being underweight (WAZ < − 2), highlighting the need for future, larger studies of the gut microbiota in malnourished children.