Gut microbiota of one-and-a-half-year-old food-allergic and healthy children

Monami Hara; Hisato Suzuki; Daisuke Hayashi; Wataru Morii; Takako Nakamura; Kaori Kiyoki; Hideki Hara; Ryota Ishii; Emiko Noguchi; Hidetoshi Takada

doi:10.1016/j.alit.2024.03.004

Gut microbiota of one-and-a-half-year-old food-allergic and healthy children

Allergol Int. 2024 Apr 9:S1323-8930(24)00042-X. doi: 10.1016/j.alit.2024.03.004. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Monami Hara¹, Hisato Suzuki², Daisuke Hayashi³, Wataru Morii⁴, Takako Nakamura⁴, Kaori Kiyoki⁵, Hideki Hara⁵, Ryota Ishii⁶, Emiko Noguchi⁷, Hidetoshi Takada⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan; Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Department of Child Health, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
² Department of Child Health, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Center for Medical Genetics, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan; Department of Pediatrics, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁴ Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁶ Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁷ Department of Medical Genetics, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. Electronic address: enoguchi@md.tsukuba.ac.jp.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Ibaraki, Japan; Department of Child Health, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

PMID: 38600019
DOI: 10.1016/j.alit.2024.03.004

Abstract

Background: Intestinal bacteria may play a role in the development of food allergies. This study aimed to analyze and compare the gut microbiota of food-allergic children with that of healthy children of the same age.

Methods: Stool samples were collected from one-and-a-half-year-old food-allergic (FA group, n = 29) and healthy controls (HC group, n = 19). A questionnaire was provided to examine the children's birth, dietary, medical, and social histories. The gut microbiota was profiled by 16S rRNA sequencing. Differences in taxonomic composition were assessed using linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe), and microbial functional profiles were predicted with Tax4Fun2.

Results: No significant difference in the alpha diversity index between the two groups; however, a negative correlation was observed between the Shannon diversity index and the relative abundance of Bacteroides. A significant difference was observed in beta diversity (permutational multivariate analysis of variance) in the bacterial composition between the FA and HC groups (P < 0.05). The FA group had a higher abundance of Escherichia and Anaeromassilibacillus and a lower abundance of Bacteroides, Oscillibacter, Ruminococcus, Hungateiclostridium and Anaerotaenia than the HC group (LEfSe: linear discriminant analysis score >2). The FA group showed a predicted increase in the expression levels of genes associated with intestinal pathogenicity compared with that in the HC group.

Conclusions: The gut microbiota of food-allergic children has a higher abundance of bacteria involved in intestinal inflammation and a lower abundance of bacteria involved in immune tolerance than that of healthy children. This dysbiosis may also be associated with food allergies.

Keywords: Bacteroides; Food allergy; Gut microbiota; Immune tolerance; Infant.