Differences in gut microbiota composition between obese and lean children: a cross-sectional study

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Claregrieve1 on 2022/11/12

study design

cross-sectional observational, not case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

23631345

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1186/1757-4749-5-10

URI

Authors

Bervoets L, Van Hoorenbeeck K, Kortleven I, Van Noten C, Hens N, Vael C, Goossens H, Desager KN, Vankerckhoven V

Journal

Gut pathogens

Year

2013

BACKGROUND: An altered gut microbiota composition has recently been linked to obesity. The principal aim of this study is to investigate and compare the gut microbiota composition in obese and lean children. Secondly, associations between analysed gut bacterial species, dietary compounds, energy intake and biochemical blood parameters are evaluated. METHODS: In this prospective cross-sectional study, 26 overweight/obese (mean BMI: 28.7 ± 6.5) and 27 lean (mean BMI: 16.5 ± 2.1) children aged 6 to 16 were included. Faecal samples were collected and subjected to selective plating and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) in order to determine the concentrations of bacterial species belonging to the genera: Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Clostridium, Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was applied for an in-depth identification of species of Bacteroides fragilis group. Differences in the concentrations of gut bacterial species between obese and lean children were statistically analysed using Mann Whitney U test. Subsequently, random forest analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were performed in order to test associations between gut bacterial species, dietary compounds and blood parameters. RESULTS: Obese children showed an elevated Firmicutes-to-Bacteroidetes ratio compared with lean children. Furthermore, low relative proportions of B. vulgatus and high concentrations of Lactobacillus spp. were observed in the obese microbiota. In all children, Staphylococcus spp. were positively associated with energy intake. Additionally, in obese children, Lactobacillus spp. were positively associated with plasma hs-CRP. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings corroborate a significant difference in the gut microbiota composition of important bacterial species between obese and lean children. In future, non-invasive manipulation of gut microbiota composition in early infancy could offer a new approach to manage childhood obesity and associated disorders.

Experiment 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Claregrieve1 on 2022/11/12

Curated date: 2021/01/10

Curator: WikiWorks

Revision editor(s): Claregrieve1, WikiWorks, Victoria

Subjects

Location of subjects: Belgium

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Obesity Adiposis,Adiposity,Obese,Obese (finding),obesity,Obesity (disorder),Obesity [Ambiguous],obesity disease,obesity disorder,Obesity NOS,Obesity, unspecified,Overweight and obesity,Obesity

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: control (lean/normal weight)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: obese (obese/overweight/morbidly obese)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Children who are obese by BMI (classified based on the international BMI cut-off values of the Extended International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) for children aged 2 to 18)

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 27

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 26

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 1 month

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: Not specified

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: RT-qPCR

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances