The association of gut microbiota characteristics in Malawian infants with growth and inflammation

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 12893 - 13
• Main Authors: Kamng’ona, Arox W., Young, Rebecca, Arnold, Charles D., Kortekangas, Emma, Patson, Noel, Jorgensen, Josh M., Prado, Elizabeth L., Chaima, David, Malamba, Chikondi, Ashorn, Ulla, Fan, Yue-Mei, Cheung, Yin B., Ashorn, Per, Maleta, Kenneth, Dewey, Kathryn G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.09.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 45/22; 45/23; 45/29; 45/77; 631/326/41/2142; 692/308/3187; Adult; Age; Body Size; Body Weight; C-reactive protein; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Growth and Development; Gut microbiota; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Infant; Infants; Inflammation; Inflammation - epidemiology; Inflammation - microbiology; Intestinal microflora; Malawi - epidemiology; Male; Maturity; Microbiota; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Malawi
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49274-y

We tested the hypotheses that a more mature or diverse gut microbiota will be positively associated with infant growth and inversely associated with inflammation. We characterized gut microbiota from the stool samples of Malawian infants at 6 mo (n = 527), 12 mo (n = 632) and 18 mo (n = 629) of age. Microbiota diversity and maturity measurements were based on Shannon diversity index and microbiota for age Z-score (MAZ), respectively. Growth was calculated as change in Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), length-for-age (LAZ) and head circumference-for-age (HCZ) from 6 to 12 mo and 12 to 18 mo. Biomarkers of inflammation (alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and C-reactive protein (CRP)) were measured at 6 and 18 mo. Multivariable models were used to assess the association of each independent variable with each outcome. Microbiota diversity and maturity were related to growth in weight from 6 to 12 mo, but not to growth in length or head circumference or to growth from 12 to 18 mo. Microbiota diversity and maturity may also be linked to inflammation, but findings were inconsistent.