title: Distinct pattern of commensal gut microbiota in toddlers with eczema.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent studies have demonstrated differences in the composition of gut microbiota in infants with and without allergic diseases, particularly eczema.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study involving 21 toddlers (age 3.0 +/- 0.5 years) with and 28 age-matched toddlers without eczema was conducted. Four groups of aerobic gut microbiota were identified and quantitated in stool samples grown on selective media. Three groups of anaerobes were enumerated by fluorescent in situ hybridization followed by quantitative flow cytometry. We also performed molecular typing of lactic-acid-producing bacteria (LAB) and enterococcal isolates to facilitate detailed analysis at species level by bacterial 16S rDNA sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Toddlers with eczema harbored significantly lower counts of Bifidobacterium [(median 0.14 (25th and 75th percentile: 0.04 and 0.47) vs. 0.71% (0.16, 1.79) of cells acquired, p = 0.003)] and Clostridium [(0.28 (0.09, 0.78) vs. 0.83% (0.35, 1.82) of cells acquired, p = 0.012)] but significantly higher counts of total LAB [7.3 (6.1, 8.5) vs. 5.7 (4.4, 7.3) log CFU/g, p = 0.006] in particular enterococci [6.3 (4.8, 7.4) vs. 5.0 (3.4, 6.4) log CFU/g, p = 0.018]. There was no significant correlation between eczema severity score and bifidobacterial counts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results further confirm previous reports that the gut microecosystem differs between children with and without eczema and extend them beyond infancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Mah
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Björkstén
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: van Bever
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Shek
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chua
mesh_terms: D001439:Bacteroides / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003013:Clostridium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012846:Singapore; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial