Dataset Information

Gut Microbiome Changes with Acute Diarrheal Disease in Urban Versus Rural Settings in Northern Ecuador.

ABSTRACT: Previous studies have reported lower fecal bacterial diversity in urban populations compared with those living in rural settings. However, most of these studies compare geographically distant populations from different countries and even continents. The extent of differences in the gut microbiome in adjacent rural versus urban populations, and the role of such differences, if any, during enteric infections remain poorly understood. To provide new insights into these issues, we sampled the gut microbiome of young children with and without acute diarrheal disease (ADD) living in rural and urban areas in northern Ecuador. Shotgun metagenomic analyses of non-ADD samples revealed small but significant differences in the abundance of microbial taxa, including a greater abundance of Prevotella and a lower abundance of Bacteroides and Alistipes in rural populations. Greater and more significant shifts in taxon abundance, metabolic pathway abundance, and diversity were observed between ADD and non-ADD status when comparing urban to rural sites (Welch's t-test, P < 0.05). Collectively our data show substantial functional, diversity, and taxonomic shifts in the gut microbiome of urban populations with ADD, supporting the idea that the microbiome of rural populations may be more resilient to ADD episodes.

SUBMITTER: Soto-Giron MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8176484 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Gut Microbiome Changes with Acute Diarrheal Disease in Urban Versus Rural Settings in Northern Ecuador.

Soto-Girón Maria J MJ Peña-Gonzalez Angela A Hatt Janet K JK Montero Lorena L Páez Maritza M Ortega Estefania E Smith Shanon S Cevallos William W Trueba Gabriel G Konstantinidis Konstantinos T KT Levy Karen K

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 20210419 6

Previous studies have reported lower fecal bacterial diversity in urban populations compared with those living in rural settings. However, most of these studies compare geographically distant populations from different countries and even continents. The extent of differences in the gut microbiome in adjacent rural versus urban populations, and the role of such differences, if any, during enteric infections remain poorly understood. To provide new insights into these issues, we sampled the gut mi ...[more]

PMID: 33872206

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Project description:BackgroundAccess to healthcare services is a major barrier to residents of the rural state of South Dakota. As a highly accessible member of the healthcare team, outpatient pharmacists can play a key role in a patient's healthcare journey. There is a need to identify the unique barriers and facilitators pharmacists in both rural and urban areas face to maximize the impact of their role.ObjectiveThe objective of this work was to compare perceptions of rural and urban pharmacists regarding the facilitators and barriers to providing patient care in South Dakota.MethodsThis qualitative project highlights results from interviews and focus group sessions with a convenience sample of South Dakota pharmacists. Participants were recruited using a referral word-of-mouth system, contracts with healthcare market research agencies, newspaper advertisements, and posters displayed in public locations in South Dakota. Practice location was characterized as rural or urban based on United States Department of Agriculture definitions. Findings from interviews and focus group sessions were coded and analyzed using content analysis by two student researchers.ResultsParticipants included 12 rural-practicing and 21 urban-practicing pharmacists in South Dakota. In both rural and urban areas, key barriers included communication with providers (50% rural; 50% urban), lack of electronic health record access (25% rural; 14% urban), not enough staff (22% rural; 20% urban), and patient misunderstanding the scope of pharmacy (22% rural; 40% urban). Barriers specific to rural areas included time to provide services (22%), having smaller facilities (27%) and provider hesitation regarding collaborative practice agreements (29%). There were no urban-specific barriers. Facilitators specific to urban areas included frequent communication with patients (6.1%) and good quality support staff (9.1%). There were no rural-specific facilitators.ConclusionsNext steps include increasing awareness of pharmacy-based patient care services, researching further to identify the extent to which facilitators and barriers influence the ability to initiate and sustain pharmacy services in rural and urban areas, and providing support to pharmacies to overcome barriers and leverage facilitators.

Project description:Gut microbiota play a significant role in various physiological functions, including digestion, nutritional metabolism, and host immune function. The composition of these gut microbes is largely influenced by habitats. This study examines the gut microbiota of the Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) inhabiting rural and urban environments to understand the effects of habitat variation on microbial composition. We captured 36 rural and 29 urban adult tree sparrows and observed minor differences in body mass but substantial differences in foraging microhabitats between the two groups. Fecal samples from adult males with similar body mass were selected for a gut microbiome analysis to mitigate potential confounding effects, resulting in 20 successfully sequenced samples. The analysis disclosed disparities in gut microbiota diversity and composition between rural and urban sparrows. The urban group demonstrated slightly higher alpha diversity and distinct dominant phyla and genera compared to the rural group. Additionally, differences in the relative abundance of potentially pathogenic bacteria were observed between the groups. Several potentially pathogenic bacteria (e.g., TM7, Staphylococcus, Helicobacter, and Shigella) were more abundant in the urban group, suggesting that tree sparrows may act as transmission vectors and develop stronger immune systems. This could potentially facilitate pathogen dissemination while also contributing to the natural cycling of nutrients and maintaining ecosystem health in urban environments. The beta diversity analysis confirmed structural differences in microbial communities, implicating habitat variation as a contributing factor. Furthermore, the LEfSe analysis emphasized significant differences in gut bacteria abundance (across two phyla, three classes, six orders, seven families, and eight genera) between urban and rural sparrows, with predicted functional differences in metabolic pathways. Notably, lipid metabolism was enriched in urban sparrows, indicating enhanced lipid synthesis and metabolism in urban habitats. In conclusion, this study underscores the profound influence of habitat on the gut microbiota composition and functional potential in tree sparrows. Our findings highlight that urbanization alters the gut microbes and, consequently, the physiological functions of bird species.

Project description:BackgroundThe widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced mortality and improved life expectancy for people living with HIV (PLWH). However, even with HIV-1 suppression, chronic immune activation and elevated inflammation persist and have been linked to a pro-inflammatory gut microbiome composition and compromised intestinal barrier integrity. PLWH in urban versus rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa experience differences in environmental factors that may impact the gut microbiome and immune system, in response to ART, yet this has not previously been investigated in these groups. To address this, we measured T cell activation/exhaustion/trafficking markers, plasma inflammatory markers, and fecal microbiome composition in PLWH and healthy participants recruited from an urban clinic in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe, and a district hospital that services surrounding rural villages. PLWH were either ART naïve at baseline and sampled again after 24 weeks of first-line ART and the antibiotic cotrimoxazole or were ART-experienced at both timepoints.ResultsAlthough expected reductions in the inflammatory marker IL-6, T-cell activation, and exhaustion were observed with ART-induced viral suppression, these changes were much more pronounced in the urban versus the rural area. Gut microbiome composition was the most highly altered from healthy controls in ART experienced PLWH, and characterized by both reduced alpha diversity and altered composition. However, gut microbiome composition showed a pronounced relationship with T cell activation and exhaustion in ART-naïve PLWH, suggesting a particularly significant role for the gut microbiome in disease progression in uncontrolled infection. Elevated immune exhaustion after 24 weeks of ART did correlate with both living in the rural location and a more Prevotella-rich/Bacteroides-poor microbiome type, suggesting a potential role for rural-associated microbiome differences or their co-variates in the muted improvements in immune exhaustion in the rural area.ConclusionSuccessful ART was less effective at reducing gut microbiome-associated inflammation and T cell activation in PLWH in rural versus urban Zimbabwe, suggesting that individuals on ART in rural areas of Zimbabwe may be more vulnerable to co-morbidity related to sustained immune dysfunction in treated infection. Video Abstract.

Dataset Information

Gut Microbiome Changes with Acute Diarrheal Disease in Urban Versus Rural Settings in Northern Ecuador.

Publications

Gut Microbiome Changes with Acute Diarrheal Disease in Urban Versus Rural Settings in Northern Ecuador.

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