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Alterations in the gut microbiome of children with severe ulcerative colitis

Sonia Michail1, Matthew Durbin, Dan Turner

  • 1Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90027, USA. Sonia.michail@hotmail.com

Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
|December 16, 2011
PubMed

Insights

The gut microbiome is significantly less diverse in children with ulcerative colitis (UC). Non-response to steroid therapy in pediatric UC correlates with an even less diverse microbiome, suggesting a potential prognostic marker.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiome research
  • Pediatric gastroenterology
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) studies

Background:

  • The role of the gut microbiome in disease pathogenesis is recognized, but data on microbiome variability in pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) are limited.
  • This study focuses on characterizing the gut microbiome in hospitalized children with severe UC.
  • The relationship between the gut microbiota and response to steroid therapy is investigated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To characterize the gut microbiome composition and diversity in children with severe UC.
  • To compare the gut microbiome of children with UC to that of healthy controls.
  • To determine if microbiome characteristics can predict response to steroid therapy in pediatric UC.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective multicenter study involving fecal sample collection from 26 healthy controls and 27 hospitalized children with severe UC.
  • DNA extraction, bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplification via PCR, and microarray hybridization were performed.
  • Microbiome data were analyzed using GeneSpring GX 11.0, comparing UC patients with controls and steroid responders with nonresponders.

Main Results:

  • Significant differences in bacterial signal strength and distribution were observed between UC patients and healthy controls across multiple taxonomic levels (Phylum to Phylospecies).
  • Children with UC exhibited reduced microbial richness (phylospecies count) and lower Shannon Diversity Index compared to controls.
  • Steroid nonresponders had a significantly less rich microbiome (fewer phylospecies) than steroid responders.

Conclusions:

  • Gut microbiome richness, evenness, and biodiversity are significantly reduced in children with UC compared to healthy individuals.
  • A less rich microbiome in children with UC is associated with non-response to steroid therapy.
  • This study provides the first characterization of the gut microbiome in a large pediatric severe UC cohort and suggests microbiome changes may serve as a prognostic indicator.
Abstract

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