A comprehensive microbial analysis of pediatric patients with acute appendicitis

Abstract

Background: Pathogenesis of pediatric acute appendicitis (AA) is yet to be elucidated. Therefore, we performed a comprehensive microbial analysis of saliva, feces, and appendiceal lumen of AA patients using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene amplicon sequencing to elucidate the pathogenesis of pediatric AA. Methods: This study included 33 AA patients and 17 healthy controls (HCs) aged 5% (16.0%, 9.1%, 7.9%, and 6.0%, respectively). Conclusions: The relative abundance of Fusobacterium was high in the appendiceal lumen of pediatric AA patients. Moreover, the relative abundance of Fusobacterium was significantly higher in the saliva and feces of pediatric AA patients than in those of healthy children. These results suggest that ectopic colonization of oral Fusobacterium in the appendix might play an important role in the pathogenesis of pediatric AA.

Keywords

• Appendicitis
• Fusobacterium
• Microbiome
• Pediatric