Increase in gut microbiota taxonomic sensitivity to inflammation from 6 to 12 month infants

Abstract

Inflammation is a biological response typically indicative of a diseased state, and long-term inflammation is also potentially pathological. Recent studies have highlighted the important relationship between the gut microbiota and inflammation in the human body, identifying a potential avenue of new therapeutics. However, this relationship remains to be comprehensively explored in infants. As such, the objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between gut microbial composition and inflammation in 6 and 12 month old infants. In this study, inflammation markers C-reactive protein and α1-acid glycoprotein were used to examine the overall diversity differences as well as taxonomic changes between infants with high and low inflammation levels. It was found that overall diversity of infants is not significantly impacted by inflammation levels in both 6 and 12 month old infants. By contrast, taxonomic changes reflect an increasing association of specific taxa with inflammation levels as infants age from 6 to 12 months old. These results suggest a potential age-related correlation between the gut microbiome of infants and inflammation status. Overall, this study demonstrates the need to pursue further research in this area to allow for the development of potential early diagnostic tools vital for early intervention and treatment for inflammation in infants.