Nature Communications (Nov 2021)

Micronutrient supplements can promote disruptive protozoan and fungal communities in the developing infant gut

  • Ana Popovic,
  • Celine Bourdon,
  • Pauline W. Wang,
  • David S. Guttman,
  • Sajid Soofi,
  • Zulfiqar A. Bhutta,
  • Robert H. J. Bandsma,
  • John Parkinson,
  • Lisa G. Pell

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27010-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Micronutrient supplements are key to global efforts to address child malnutrition. Here, in a cohort of children, previously enrolled into a large cluster randomized controlled trial of micronutrient supplementation in Pakistan, Popovic et al. find that vitamins and iron increase carriage of protozoa and fungi in the gut, potentially disrupting the bacterial microbiome.