An evolving perspective about the origins of childhood undernutrition and nutritional interventions that includes the gut microbiome

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Abstract

The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science and the World Health Organization (WHO) have worked together to formulate a research agenda for nutrition science. Undernutrition of children has profound effects on health, development, and achievement of full human capacity. Undernutrition is not simply caused by a lack of food, but results from a complex interplay of intra- and intergenerational factors. Representative preclinical models and comprehensive well-controlled longitudinal clinical studies are needed to further understand the contributions and the interrelationships among these factors and to develop interventions that are effective and durable. This paper summarizes work on mechanisms underlying the varied manifestations of childhood undernutrition and discusses current gaps in knowledge and challenges to our understanding of undernutrition and infection/immunity throughout the human life cycle, focusing on early childhood growth. It proposes a series of basic and clinical studies to address this global health challenge.

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Structure, Function and Diversity of the Healthy Human Microbiome

Tatiana Vishnivetskaya, Jeroen Raes (2014)

Studies of the human microbiome have revealed that even healthy individuals differ remarkably in the microbes that occupy habitats such as the gut, skin, and vagina. Much of this diversity remains unexplained, although diet, environment, host genetics, and early microbial exposure have all been implicated. Accordingly, to characterize the ecology of human-associated microbial communities, the Human Microbiome Project has analyzed the largest cohort and set of distinct, clinically relevant body habitats to date. We found the diversity and abundance of each habitat’s signature microbes to vary widely even among healthy subjects, with strong niche specialization both within and among individuals. The project encountered an estimated 81–99% of the genera, enzyme families, and community configurations occupied by the healthy Western microbiome. Metagenomic carriage of metabolic pathways was stable among individuals despite variation in community structure, and ethnic/racial background proved to be one of the strongest associations of both pathways and microbes with clinical metadata. These results thus delineate the range of structural and functional configurations normal in the microbial communities of a healthy population, enabling future characterization of the epidemiology, ecology, and translational applications of the human microbiome.

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A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing.

Junjie Qin, Ruiqiang Li, Jeroen Raes … (2010)

To understand the impact of gut microbes on human health and well-being it is crucial to assess their genetic potential. Here we describe the Illumina-based metagenomic sequencing, assembly and characterization of 3.3 million non-redundant microbial genes, derived from 576.7 gigabases of sequence, from faecal samples of 124 European individuals. The gene set, approximately 150 times larger than the human gene complement, contains an overwhelming majority of the prevalent (more frequent) microbial genes of the cohort and probably includes a large proportion of the prevalent human intestinal microbial genes. The genes are largely shared among individuals of the cohort. Over 99% of the genes are bacterial, indicating that the entire cohort harbours between 1,000 and 1,150 prevalent bacterial species and each individual at least 160 such species, which are also largely shared. We define and describe the minimal gut metagenome and the minimal gut bacterial genome in terms of functions present in all individuals and most bacteria, respectively.

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Human gut microbiome viewed across age and geography

Tanya Yatsunenko, Federico E Rey, Mark Manary … (2012)

Gut microbial communities represent one source of human genetic and metabolic diversity. To examine how gut microbiomes differ between human populations when viewed from the perspective of component microbial lineages, encoded metabolic functions, stage of postnatal development, and environmental exposures, we characterized bacterial species present in fecal samples obtained from 531 individuals representing healthy Amerindians from the Amazonas of Venezuela, residents of rural Malawian communities, and inhabitants of USA metropolitan areas, as well as the gene content of 110 of their microbiomes. This cohort encompassed infants, children, teenagers and adults, parents and offspring, and included mono- and dizygotic twins. Shared features of the functional maturation of the gut microbiome were identified during the first three years of life in all three populations, including age-associated changes in the representation of genes involved in vitamin biosynthesis and metabolism. Pronounced differences in bacterial species assemblages and functional gene repertoires were noted between individuals residing in the USA compared to the other two countries. These distinctive features are evident in early infancy as well as adulthood. In addition, the similarity of fecal microbiomes among family members extends across cultures. These findings underscore the need to consider the microbiome when evaluating human development, nutritional needs, physiological variations, and the impact of Westernization.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Ann N Y Acad Sci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci

Journal ID (publisher-id): nyas

Title: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Publisher: BlackWell Publishing Ltd (Oxford, UK )

ISSN (Print): 0077-8923

ISSN (Electronic): 1749-6632

Publication date (Print): December 2014

Publication date (Electronic): 12 August 2014

Volume: 1332

Issue: 1

Pages: 22-38

Affiliations

[1 ]Centre for Nutrition and Food Security, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Dhaka, Bangladesh

[2 ]Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia

[3 ]Clinical Sciences, KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme Kilifi, Kenya

[4 ]Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, John Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland

[5 ]Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine St. Louis, Missouri

[6 ]The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science, New York Academy of Sciences New York, New York

Author notes

Address for correspondence: Tahmeed Ahmed, Centre for Nutrition and Food Security, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, GPO Box 128, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh. tahmeed@ 123456icddrb.org

[The copyright line for this article was changed on July 21, 2015 after original online publication.]

Article

DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12487

PMC ID: 4514967

PubMed ID: 25118072

SO-VID: d59e7810-b2e7-44af-a3f0-71f8644cfc37

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

An evolving perspective about the origins of childhood undernutrition and nutritional interventions that includes the gut microbiome

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Most cited references 108

Structure, Function and Diversity of the Healthy Human Microbiome

A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing.

Human gut microbiome viewed across age and geography

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