Altered Gut Microbiota and Compositional Changes in Firmicutes and Proteobacteria in Mexican Undernourished and Obese Children

Abstract

Mexico is experiencing an epidemiological and nutritional transition period, and Mexican children are often affected by the double burden of malnutrition, which includes undernutrition (13.6% of children) and obesity (15.3%). The gut microbiome is a complex and metabolically active community of organisms that influences the host phenotype. Although previous studies have shown alterations in the gut microbiota in undernourished children, the affected bacterial communities remain unknown. The present study investigated and compared the bacterial richness and diversity of the fecal microbiota in groups of undernourished (n = 12), obese (n = 12), and normalweight (control) (n = 12) Mexican school-age children. We used next-generation sequencing to analyze the V3–V4 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, and we also investigated whether there were correlations between diet and relevant bacteria. The undernourished and obese groups showed lower bacterial richness and diversity than the normalweight group. Enterotype 1 correlated positively with dietary fat intake in the obese group and with carbohydrate intake in the undernourished group. The results showed that undernourished children had significantly higher levels of bacteria in the Firmicutes phylum and in the Lachnospiraceae family than obese children, while the Proteobacteria phylum was overrepresented in the obese group. The level of Lachnospiraceae correlated negatively with energy consumption and positively with leptin level. This is the first study to examine the gut microbial community structure in undernourished and obese Mexican children living in low-income neighborhoods. Our analysis revealed distinct taxonomic profiles for undernourished and obese children.

Changes in human gut microbiota composition are linked to the energy metabolic switch during 10 d of Buchinger fasting

“…The gut microbiota may also contribute to weight loss. In our study, the taxonomic group which was most affected by the reduction of nutrient supply was Lachnospiraceae, which is a bacterial family known to have the highest energy-harvesting properties (59,60) . Studies demonstrated that a 20 % increase in Firmicutes (i.e.…”

Metatranscriptomic analysis to define the Secrebiome, and 16S rRNA profiling of the gut microbiome in obesity and metabolic syndrome of Mexican children

“…Contrary, some studies revealed a decrease in diversity in obese patients [27,28]. Regarding the Mexican children population, one study shows a higher diversity associated with obesity [29], and the other two studies showed no difference in diversity among obesity and normal-weight controls [30,31]. Thus, the role of bacterial richness and diversity in children obesity remains unclear, suggesting that more studies are necessary.…”

Modulation of Allicin-Free Garlic on Gut Microbiome

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