Pediatric intensive care unit treatment alters the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota and antimicrobial resistance gene expression in critically ill children
Introduction Common critical illnesses are a growing economic burden on healthcare worldwide. However, therapies targeting the gut microbiota for critical illnesses have not been developed on a large scale. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the characteristics of the gut microbiota in c...
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Published in | Frontiers in microbiology Vol. 14; p. 1237993 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Frontiers Media S.A
13.11.2023
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Introduction
Common critical illnesses are a growing economic burden on healthcare worldwide. However, therapies targeting the gut microbiota for critical illnesses have not been developed on a large scale. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the characteristics of the gut microbiota in critically ill children after short-term pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) treatments.
Methods
Anal swab samples were prospectively collected from March 2021 to March 2022 from children admitted to the PICU of Xinhua Hospital who received broad-spectrum antibiotics on days 1 (the D1 group) and 7 (the D7 group) of the PICU treatment. The structural and functional characteristics of the gut microbiota of critically ill children were explored using metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology, and a comparative analysis of samples from D1 and D7 was conducted.
Results
After 7 days of PICU admission, a significant decrease was noted in the richness of the gut microbiota in critically ill children, while the bacterial diversity and the community structure between groups remained stable to some extent. The relative abundance of
Bacilli
and
Lactobacillales
was significantly higher, and that of
Campylobacter hominis
was significantly lower in the D7 group than in the D1 group. The random forest model revealed that
Prevotella coporis
and
Enterobacter cloacae
were bacterial biomarkers between groups. LEfSe revealed that two Gene Ontology entries, GO:0071555 (cell wall organization) and GO:005508 (transmembrane transport), changed significantly after the short-term treatment in the PICU. In addition, 30 KEGG pathways were mainly related to the activity of enzymes and proteins during the processes of metabolism, DNA catabolism and repair, and substance transport. Finally, 31 antimicrobial resistance genes had significantly different levels between the D7 and D1 groups. The top 10 up-regulated genes were Erm(A), ErmX, LptD, eptB, SAT-4, tetO, adeJ, adeF, APH(3′)-IIIa, and tetM.
Conclusion
The composition, gene function, and resistance genes of gut microbiota of critically ill children can change significantly after short PICU treatments. Our findings provide a substantial basis for a better understanding of the structure and function of gut microbiota and their role in critical illnesses. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1664-302X 1664-302X |
DOI: | 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1237993 |