Metagenomic analysis reveals distinct changes in the gut microbiome of obese Chinese children
Ping Li,
Jiyang Jiang,
Yifei Li,
Yue Lan,
Fan Yang,
Jiao Wang,
Yuxin Xie,
Fei Xiong,
Jinhui Wu,
Hanmin Liu,
Zhenxin Fan
Affiliations
Ping Li
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, Department of Pediatrics, NHC Key Laboratory of Chronobiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University
Jiyang Jiang
Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Ecoenvironment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University
Yifei Li
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, Department of Pediatrics, NHC Key Laboratory of Chronobiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University
Yue Lan
Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Ecoenvironment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University
Fan Yang
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, Department of Pediatrics, NHC Key Laboratory of Chronobiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University
Jiao Wang
Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Ecoenvironment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University
Yuxin Xie
Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Ecoenvironment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University
Fei Xiong
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, Department of Pediatrics, NHC Key Laboratory of Chronobiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University
Jinhui Wu
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, Department of Pediatrics, NHC Key Laboratory of Chronobiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University
Hanmin Liu
Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of MOE, Department of Pediatrics, NHC Key Laboratory of Chronobiology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University
Zhenxin Fan
Key Laboratory of Bioresources and Ecoenvironment (Ministry of Education), College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University
Abstract Background The prevalence of obese children in China is increasing, which poses a great challenge to public health. Gut microbes play an important role in human gut health, and changes in gut status are closely related to obesity. However, how gut microbes contribute to obesity in children remains unclear. In our study, we performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing of feces from 23 obese children, 8 overweight children and 22 control children in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Results We observed a distinct difference in the gut microbiome of obese children and that of controls. Compared with the controls, bacterial pathogen Campylobacter rectus was significantly more abundant in obese children. In addition, functional annotation of microbial genes revealed that there might be gut inflammation in obese children. The guts of overweight children might belong to the transition state between obese and control children due to a gradient in relative abundance of differentially abundant species. Finally, we compared the gut metagenomes of obese Chinese children and obese Mexican children and found that Trichuris trichiura was significantly more abundant in the guts of obese Mexican children. Conclusions Our results contribute to understanding the changes in the species and function of intestinal microbes in obese Chinese children.
