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The Fecal Microbiota Profile and Bronchiolitis in Infants

Kohei Hasegawa1, Rachel W Linnemann2, Jonathan M Mansbach3

  • 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; khasegawa1@partners.org.

Pediatrics
|June 30, 2016
PubMed

Insights

The gut microbiome

Area of Science:

  • Microbiome research
  • Pediatric infectious diseases
  • Infant health

Background:

  • Gut microbiota's role in infant health is understudied.
  • Bronchiolitis is a common infant respiratory infection.
  • Fecal microbiota is a potentially modifiable factor.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the association between fecal microbiota profiles and bronchiolitis in infants.
  • To identify specific gut bacteria linked to increased bronchiolitis risk.

Main Methods:

  • Case-control study design.
  • 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples from 40 infants with bronchiolitis and 115 healthy controls.
  • Unbiased clustering to identify distinct microbiota profiles.

Main Results:

  • Four distinct fecal microbiota profiles were identified: Escherichia-dominant, Bifidobacterium-dominant, Enterobacter/Veillonella-dominant, and Bacteroides-dominant.
  • The Bacteroides-dominant profile was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of bronchiolitis (OR=4.59, P=.008).
  • This association persisted in multivariable analysis (OR=4.24, P=.005) when compared to the Enterobacter/Veillonella-dominant profile.

Conclusions:

  • Infant fecal microbiota composition varies, with four distinct profiles identified.
  • A Bacteroides-dominant gut microbiota profile is linked to an increased risk of infant bronchiolitis.
  • Targeting gut microbiota may offer future strategies for bronchiolitis prevention or treatment.
Abstract

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