Gut microbiomes of Indian children of varying nutritional status.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Malnutrition is a global health problem affecting more than 300 million pre-school children worldwide. It is one of the major health concerns in India since around 50% of children below the age of two suffer from various forms of malnutrition. The gut microbiome plays an important role in nutrient pre-processing, assimilation and energy harvest from food. Consequently, dysbiosis of the gut microbiota has been implicated in malnutrition.

Methodology/principal findings

Metagenomics approach was adopted to investigate the gut microbiome sampled from 20 rural Indian children with varying nutritional status. The changes in the abundances of various taxonomic and functional groups were investigated across these gut microbiomes. A core set of 23 genera were observed acro

SUBMITTER: Ghosh TS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3999041 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature