Gut Microbiome in Children from Indigenous and Urban Communities in México: Different Subsistence Models, Different Microbiomes

Abstract

The human gut microbiome is an important component that defines host health. Childhood is a particularly important period for the establishment and development of gut microbiota (GM). We sequenced the 16S rRNA gene from fecal samples of children between 5 and 10 years old, in two Mexican communities with contrasting lifestyles, i.e., “Westernized” (México City, n = 13) and “non-Westernized” (Me’phaa indigenous group, n = 29), in order to characterize and compare their GM. The main differences between these two communities were in bacteria associated with different types of diets (high animal protein and refined sugars vs. high fiber food, respectively). In addition, the GM of Me’phaa children showed higher total diversity and the presence of exclusive phyla, such as Deinococcus-Thermus, Chloroflexi, Elusimicrobia, Acidobacteria, and Fibrobacteres. In contrast, the children from México City showed less diversity and the presence of Saccharibacteria phylum, which was associated with the degradation of sugar compounds and was not present in the samples from Me’phaa children. This comparison provided further knowledge of the selective pressures affecting microbial ecosystemic composition over the course of human evolution and the potential consequences of pathophysiological states correlated with Westernization lifestyles.

Keywords

• intestinal microbiome
• children’s microbiota
• diet
• Westernized
• non-Westernized
• lifestyle