Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 22, 2025
Fecal micro RNA Isolation
Published on: October 28, 2020
Associations between stool micro-transcriptome, gut microbiota, and infant growth
Molly C Carney1, Xiang Zhan2, Akanksha Rangnekar3
1Department of Pediatrics, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
Insights
Infant gut microbes and human micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) influence early growth. These molecules interact, impacting metabolic pathways and potentially regulating infant weight status and future obesity risk.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Rapid infant growth is a risk factor for adult obesity.
- The gut microbiome is linked to early infant weight.
- Interactions between microbial and host RNA expression in infants and their effect on growth are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between infant stool micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs), microbial activity, and infant growth.
- To explore how miRNA targets in metabolic pathways might mediate these associations.
- To understand the role of host-microbe RNA interactions in infant development.
Main Methods:
- Collected stool samples twice from 30 infants (1 month and 6-12 months).
- Measured stool RNA using high-throughput sequencing, aligning to human and microbial databases.
- Assessed infant growth via weight-for-length z-score at birth and 12 months.
Main Results:
- Increased RNA transcriptional activity of Clostridia and Burkholderia were associated with infant growth.
- 16 of 25 human RNAs linked to growth were identified as miRNAs.
- miRNAs showed significant target enrichment in four metabolic pathways, with associations to growth-related phyla.
Conclusions:
- Longitudinal trends in gut microbiota activity and human miRNA levels are associated with infant growth.
- miRNAs may regulate the gut's biosynthetic landscape and influence microbial activity.
- These findings highlight potential molecular mechanisms linking early life gut environment to growth and long-term health.
Abstract:
Rapid infant growth increases the risk for adult obesity. The gut microbiome is associated with early weight status; however, no study has examined how interactions between microbial and host ribonucleic acid (RNA) expression influence infant growth. We hypothesized that dynamics in infant stool micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) would be associated with both microbial activity and infant growth via putative metabolic targets. Stool was collected twice from 30 full-term infants, at 1 month and again between 6 and 12 months. Stool RNA were measured with high-throughput sequencing and aligned to human and microbial databases. Infant growth was measured by weight-for-length z-score at birth and 12 months. Increased RNA transcriptional activity of Clostridia (R = 0.55; Adj p = 3.7E-2) and Burkholderia (R = -0.820, Adj p = 2.62E-3) were associated with infant growth. Of the 25 human RNAs associated with growth, 16 were miRNAs. The miRNAs demonstrated significant target enrichment (Adj p < 0.05) for four metabolic pathways. There were four associations between growth-related miRNAs and growth-related phyla. We have shown that longitudinal trends in gut microbiota activity and human miRNA levels are associated with infant growth and the metabolic targets of miRNAs suggest these molecules may regulate the biosynthetic landscape of the gut and influence microbial activity.
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...
01:50What is Monogastric Digestion?