Microbiota intestinal y su relación con el estado nutricional en niños, caso de estudio: Monte Sinaí

Abstract

CONDITION FOR PUBLICATION OF PROJECT. Increasing evidence indicates that the composition of children’s gut microbiota can influence children malnutrition. Currently, there is no available evidence of this relationship in Ecuador. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the composition of the gut microbiota in healthy and malnourished children from Monte Sinaí to identify microbial markers associated with health and malnutrition. This was a cross-sectional observational study approved by an ethics committee. Children living in Monte Sinai, Ecuador who were 5 years or younger were recruited after obtaining their parents/guardians informed consent. Participants were categorized according to a nutrition diagnosis criterion and by their anemia status. DNA was extracted from stool samples and 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed. 18 children were included. There were no significant differences in alpha or beta diversity between children at risk of malnutrition or anemia and their healthy counterparts. Differential abundance analysis showed that the taxa Butyricimonas, Blautia_A_141781, CAG-41 and UBA1381 were significantly less abundant in children at risk of malnutrition (p.adj < 0.1) compared to their healthy counterparts. Furthermore, the taxa Porphyromonadaceae, Porphyromonas_A_859424, Butyricimonas and UMGS1071 were significantly less abundant in children who suffered from anemia (p.adj < 0.05). The findings suggest that the gut microbiota profile of children at risk of malnutrition or suffering from anemia is depleted in Butyricimonas. Keywords: gut microbiota, children malnutrition, anemia, microbiome