Abstract

Gut microbial dysbiosis has been shown to be an instrumental factor in severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and particularly, the absence of Methanobrevibacter smithii, a key player in energy harvest. Nevertheless, it remains unknown whether this absence reflects an immaturity or a loss of the microbiota. In order to assess that, we performed a case–control study in Mali using a propensity score weighting approach. The presence of M. smithii was tested using quantitative PCR on faeces collected from SAM children at inclusion and at discharge when possible or at day 15 for controls. M. smithii was highly significantly associated with the absence of SAM, detected in 40.9% controls but only in 4.2% cases (p < 0.0001). The predictive positive value for detection of M. smithii gradually increased with age in controls while decreasing in cases. Among children providing two samples with a negative first sample, no SAM children became positive, while this proportion was 2/4 in controls (p = 0.0015). This data suggests that gut dysbiosis in SAM is not an immaturity but rather features a loss of M. smithii. The addition of M. smithii as a probiotic may thus represent an important addition to therapeutic approaches to restore gut symbiosis.

Details

Title
Clinical evidence of the role of Methanobrevibacter smithii in severe acute malnutrition
Author
Camara Aminata 1 ; Konate Salimata 2 ; Tidjani Alou Maryam 3 ; Kodio Aly 2 ; Togo Amadou Hamidou 2 ; Cortaredona Sebastien 4 ; Henrissat Bernard 5 ; Thera Mahamadou Ali 6 ; Doumbo Ogobara K 6 ; Raoult Didier 7 ; Million Matthieu 8 

 Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France; IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0519 5986); Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC)/Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Disease/University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali (GRID:grid.483853.1) 
 Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1); IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0519 5986); Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC)/Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Disease/University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali (GRID:grid.483853.1) 
 Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1); IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0519 5986) 
 Aix Marseille Univ, VITROME, IRD, APHM, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.5399.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2176 4817) 
 Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Aix-Marseille University, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.428531.9) 
 Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC)/Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Disease/University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali (GRID:grid.428531.9) 
 Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.428531.9); IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0519 5986); King Abdulaziz University, Department of Biological Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (GRID:grid.412125.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 0619 1117) 
 Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.412125.1); IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France (GRID:grid.483853.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0519 5986) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2498796462
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.