Higher pathogen load in children from Mozambique vs. USA revealed by comparative fecal microbiome profiling.

ABSTRACT: The infant gut microbiome has lifelong implications on health and immunity but there is still limited understanding of the microbiome differences and similarities between children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) vs. high-income countries (HICs). Here, we describe and compare the microbiome profile of children aged under 48 months in two urban areas: Maputo, Mozambique and Atlanta, USA using shotgun metagenomics. The gut microbiome of American children showed distinct development, characterized by higher alpha diversity after infancy, compared to the same age group of African children, and the microbiomes clustered separately based on geographic location or age. The abundances of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factors (VFs) were significantly higher in Maputo c

SUBMITTER: Kim M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9723681 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature