Dataset Information

Characterization of the gut microbiota in Chinese children with overweight and obesity using 16S rRNA gene sequencing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Childhood obesity constitutes a worldwide health problem, and the gut microbiota play extremely important roles in obesity. Herein, we aimed to characterize the gut microbiota in children of normal weight, overweight, and obesity.

Methods

Thirty children of normal weight, 35 who were overweight, and 35 with obesity were enrolled from Nanjing, China. We isolated DNA from fecal samples, and employed 16S rRNA gene sequencing to explore the diversity and composition of gut microbiota.

Results

The operational taxonomic unit (OTU) numbers exhibited a reduction in the gut microbiota abundance with the increase in the body weight. Alpha diversity analysis revealed a sharp decrease in the mean microbial abundance among the three groups (Chao1: F = 5.478, P = 0.006; observed species: F = 7.271, P = 0.001; PD whole tree: F = 8.735, P < 0.001). Beta diversity analysis indicated notable differences in the gut microbial composition between children of normal weight and obesity. However, overweight children had little difference in gut microbiota compared to either children of normal weight or obesity. At the genus level, Oscillospira decreased among the three groups (χ² = 10.062, P = 0.001), and Sutterella increased (F = 4.052, P = 0.020). There were many remarkably increased species of gut bacteria in the comparison among three groups, 31 in the normal weight group, 32 in the obese group, and only three species of bacteria were identified in the overweight group. These significantly increased species of gut bacteria may have a close relationship with the progression of obesity.

Conclusions

The abundance of species decreased significantly as the BMI increased. Although the gut microbial composition between children of normal weight and obesity was notably different, due to the changing ratio of some microbial communities, gut microbiota in overweight children showed similarities to that of children with normal weight and obesity.

SUBMITTER: Chen X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8194416 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundObesity is a global epidemic in the industrialized and developing world, and many children suffer from obesity-related complications. Gut microbiota dysbiosis might have significant effect on the development of obesity. The microbiota continues to develop through childhood and thus childhood may be the prime time for microbiota interventions to realize health promotion or disease prevention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the structure and function of pediatric gut microbiota.MethodsAccording to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, twenty-three normal weight and twenty-eight obese children were recruited from Nanjing, China. Genomic DNA was extracted from fecal samples. The V4 region of the bacterial 16S rDNA was amplified by PCR, and sequencing was applied to analyze the gut microbiota diversity and composition using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform.ResultsThe number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) showed a decrease in the diversity of gut microbiota with increasing body weight. The alpha diversity indices showed that the normal weight group had higher abundance and observed species than the obese group (Chao1: P < 0.001; observed species: P < 0.001; PD whole tree: P < 0.001; Shannon index: P = 0.008). Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) revealed significant differences in gut microbial community structure between the normal weight group and the obese group. The liner discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis showed that fifty-five species of bacteria were abundant in the fecal samples of the normal weight group and forty-five species of bacteria were abundant in the obese group. In regard to phyla, the gut microbiota in the obese group had lower proportions of Bacteroidetes (51.35%) compared to the normal weight group (55.48%) (P = 0.030). There was no statistical difference in Firmicutes between the two groups (P = 0.436), and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes between the two groups had no statistical difference (P = 0.983). At the genus level, Faecalibacterium, Phascolarctobacterium, Lachnospira, Megamonas, and Haemophilus were significantly more abundant in the obese group than in the normal weight group (P = 0.048, P = 0.018, P < 0.001, P = 0.040, and P = 0.003, respectively). The fecal microbiota of children in the obese group had lower proportions of Oscillospira and Dialister compared to the normal weight group (P = 0.002 and P = 0.002, respectively).ConclusionsOur results showed a decrease in gut microbiota abundance and diversity as the BMI increased. Variations in the bacterial community structure were associated with obesity. Gut microbiota dysbiosis might play a crucial part in the development of obesity in Chinese children.