Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 24, 2025
Isolation of Human Islets from Partially Pancreatectomized Patients
Published on: July 30, 2011
Gut Microbiome Profile After Pancreatectomy in Infants With Congenital Hyperinsulinism
Mary Ellen Vajravelu, Jung-Jin Lee1, Lauren Mitteer2
1Division of Gastoenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
Insights
Infants with congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) and significant pancreatectomy show altered gut microbiome diversity. Less extensive surgery in HI infants resulted in microbiome profiles closer to healthy controls.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Microbiome Research
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) is a rare condition causing severe hypoglycemia.
- Pancreatectomy is a common surgical intervention for managing intractable hypoglycemia in infants with HI.
- The impact of pancreatectomy on the infant gut microbiome is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize and compare the gut microbiome profiles of infants with congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) who underwent partial or near-total pancreatectomy.
- To compare the gut microbiome of these infants with age-matched healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- A prospective observational cohort study included infants (0-6 months) with HI undergoing pancreatectomy.
- Fecal samples were collected postoperatively on full enteral nutrition.
- Gut microbiome analysis was performed and compared between HI subgroups (≥50% vs. <50% pancreatectomy) and healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Infants with ≥50% pancreatectomy exhibited significantly lower alpha diversity (richness and Shannon index).
- Beta diversity differed significantly across groups (≥50% pancreatectomy, <50% pancreatectomy, and controls).
- Abundance of Bifidobacteria and Klebsiella species was lowest in infants with ≥50% pancreatectomy.
Conclusions:
- Infants with HI undergoing extensive pancreatectomy (≥50%) have distinct gut microbiome profiles compared to controls.
- Infants with less extensive pancreatectomy (<50%) showed microbiome profiles more similar to healthy controls.
- Further research is needed to investigate the long-term durability of these microbiome differences.
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to characterize gut microbiome profiles of infants with congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) who underwent near-total or partial pancreatectomy for hypoglycemia management, as compared with healthy controls.
Methods:
A prospective observational cohort study was performed. Subjects were infants (0-6 months) with HI who underwent removal of pancreatic tissue for management of intractable hypoglycemia from February 2017 to February 2018 at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Fecal samples were collected postoperatively, on full enteral nutrition. The gut microbiome of HI subjects was analyzed and compared with age-matched samples from healthy infants.
Results:
Seven subjects with ≥50% pancreatectomy and 6 with <50% pancreatectomy were included. α (within-sample) diversity was lowest among infants with ≥50% pancreatectomy (richness: false discovery rate, 0.003; Shannon index: false discovery rate, 0.01). β (between-sample) diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, P = 0.02; Jaccard distance, P = 0.001) differed across groups (≥ or <50% pancreatectomy, controls). Bifidobacteria and Klebsiella species were least abundant among infants with ≥50% pancreatectomy but did not differ between infants with <50% pancreatectomy and historical controls.
Conclusions:
Infants with HI who underwent ≥50% pancreatectomy differed from age-matched infants in gut microbiome profile, whereas those with <50% pancreatectomy more closely resembled control profiles. The durability of this difference should be investigated.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Anatomy of the Intestines
Small Intestines
The small intestine is an ~7 meter-long tube with an inner diameter of just 2.5 cm. Since most nutrients are absorbed here, the inner lining of the...
01:26Pancreatic Juice and Secretion
When acidic chyme from the stomach enters the duodenum, it triggers the release of secretin, a hormone that prompts pancreatic juice secretion. After a fatty meal, cholecystokinin, another hormone, stimulates gallbladder contraction and enhances enzyme-rich...