Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Aldover, K.
THE PEDIATRIC GASTROINTESTINAL MICROBIOME ON TRIAL
Establishment of a control cohort for the intestinal microbiome of infants, children, and adolescents
Humanmedizin; [ Diplomarbeit ] Medizinische Universität Graz; 2024. pp. 98
[OPEN ACCESS]
FullText
- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Betreuer*innen:
- Bauer Theresa Margarete
- Seidel Markus
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- Introduction: Research on the human gut microbiome has mostly been done on infants under the age of 3 and adults over 18 years of age. The remaining pediatric age population of preschoolers, primary school attendees, and teenagers is lacking in the abundance of data. Furthermore, little is yet known about the composition and effect of the gut microbiome of patients with severe immune cytopenias (SICs) such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), Evans syndrome (ES), and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) with or without an underlying inborn error of immunity (IEI). Materials and Methods: We collected stool samples of (otherwise) healthy children, adolescents, and young adults (HC) (n=95) who underwent elective surgery or conservative treatment of fractures in the absence of infection at a single time point. These were assigned to respective age groups (AGs) from 1 to 5: AG1 (0-1 years old), AG2 (2-5 years old), AG3 (6-10 years old), AG4 (11-15 years old) and AG5 (16-25 years old). Further, these were compared to patients with AIHIA/ES (n=11), ITP (n=21) and IEI (n=12). The ages of the participants ranged between 0 and 25 years. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA variable V4 region was utilized for microbial community profiling. The data was compared further using scripts from QIIME 1.8 and QIIME 2.0 workflows. Results: HC infants aged 0 to 1 year (AG1) (n=12) have a discrepant gut microbiome profile compared to the remaining AGs. AG1 presents a significantly lower alpha diversity (p<0.05), high values of Actinobacteria (15.59%, p=0.001%) and Proteobacteria (11.97%), and reduced abundance of Bacteroidetes (38.02%) and Firmicutes (33.55%). The remaining AGs show no significant difference in the age-dependent dynamic of the gut microbiome. The gut microbiomes of patients with IEIs exhibit a significantly lower alpha diversity than of the other cohorts, SICs and HC (p=0.009). No significant difference in the microbiome composition was found between other SICs and HC. However, three distinct clusters are formed in the Principal Component Analysis. Conclusion: Expanding the pediatric control cohort is necessary, to estimate age-dependent changes. To attain a better insight into the suspected association of the gut microbiome with immune tolerance or autoimmunity such as in patients with SICs, longitudinal studies could capture the dynamics of the disease course.