Cited by 314Gut microbiota and healthInfant Nutrition and HealthMicrobial Community Ecology and Physiology

Distinct distal gut microbiome diversity and composition in healthy children from Bangladesh and the United States

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Lin, Audrie, Bik, Elisabeth M., Costello, Elizabeth K., Dethlefsen, Les, Haque, Rashidul, Relman, David A., Singh, Upinder·2013·PLoS ONE

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Our current understanding of the composition and stability of the human distal gut microbiota is based largely on studies of infants and adults living in developed countries. In contrast, little is known about the gut microbiota and its variation over time in older children and adolescents, especially in developing countries. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compared the diversity, composition, and temporal stability of the fecal microbiota of healthy children, ages 9 to 14 years, living in an urban slum in Bangladesh with that of children of the same age range in an upper-middle class suburban community in the United States. We analyzed >8,000 near full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences and over 845,000 pyrosequencing reads of the 16S rRNA V1-V3 region. The distal gut of Bangladeshi children harbored significantly greater bacterial diversity than that of U.S. children, including novel lineages from several bacterial phyla. Bangladeshi and U.S. children had distinct fecal bacterial community membership and structure; the microbiota of Bangladeshi children was enriched in Prevotella, Butyrivibrio, and Oscillospira and depleted in Bacteroides relative to U.S. children (although similar to Bangladeshi adults). Furthermore, community membership and structure in Bangladeshi children was significantly less stable month-to-month than U.S. children. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Together, these results suggest that differing environmental or genetic factors may shape the microbiota of healthy children in the two countries. Further investigation is necessary to understand the mechanisms and factors that underlie these differences, and to incorporate these findings into new strategies for the prevention and treatment of childhood and adolescent diseases.

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  • The inverse relationship between Prevotella and Bacteroides has been reproduced in studies comparing residents of agrarian societies in South America and Bangladesh with residents of industrialized societies.

    “The inverse relationship between Prevotella and Bacteroides has been reproduced in studies comparing the intestinal microbiota of residents of agrarian societies in South America and Bangladesh with residents of industrialized societies4, 37.”

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Authors
Lin, A., Bik, E. M., Costello, E. K., Dethlefsen, L., Haque, R., Relman, D. A., & Singh, U.
Affiliations
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
  • International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (BD)
  • VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)
Corresponding author
  • Relman, David A.
  • Singh, Upinder
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2013-01-22
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
e53838
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2035742252
Cited by
314
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 8
FWCI
14.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
  • National Institutes of Health (UL1TR001085, DP1OD000964)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI 069382, AI-53724, R01AI053724, R21AI069382, R01AI043596)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025744)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
Keywords
gut microbiota, children, adolescents, fecal microbiota, bacterial diversity, temporal stability, urban slum, Bangladesh, United States, Prevotella, Butyrivibrio, Oscillospira, Bacteroides, cross-national comparison, environmental factors
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Bacteria, Bangladesh, Child, Feces, Female, Health, Humans, Intestines, Male, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Time Factors, United States, Biodiversity, Metagenome

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