title: Molecularly assessed shifts of Bifidobacterium ssp. and less diverse microbial communities are characteristic of 5-year-old allergic children.
abstract: The composition of intestinal microbiota and the Bifidobacterium group community in 20 allergic and 20 nonallergic 5-year-old children was visualized by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The number of dominant bands in the DGGE profiles was smaller in allergic children than in nonallergic children (P<0.001). Allergic children mainly formed a single group upon cluster analysis, whereas nonallergic children were divided between four different groups. In allergic children the Bifidobacterium adolescentis species prevailed, and in nonallergic children the Bifidobacterium catenulatum/pseudocatenulatum prevailed (P=0.01 and P=0.01, respectively). The less diverse composition of intestinal microbiota and prevalence of particular species of Bifidobacterium were characteristic of allergic children even at the age of 5 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical Faculty, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia. jelena.stsepetova@ut.ee
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stsepetova
authors.forename: Epp
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sepp
authors.forename: Kaja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Julge
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vaughan
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mikelsaar
authors.forename: Willem M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: de Vos
mesh_terms: D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D044822:Biodiversity; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial