Microbiota in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that compared with controls, children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) exhibit differences in the relationships between gut microbiota and disease activity.


METHODS
Children and adolescents (n = 69; median age, 14 years) with IBD and 25 healthy controls (median age, 14 years) were recruited for the study. The disease activity was determined according to the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index or the Pediatric Crohn Disease Activity Index. Cell counts of 9 bacterial groups and species in the fecal microbiota were monitored by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.


RESULTS
Although no major changes were observed in patients with ulcerative colitis, except for a decrease in bifidobacteria in the active state of IBD, children with active and inactive Crohn's disease (CD) had lower numbers of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and bifidobacteria (P <.05), and patients with active CD had higher numbers of Escherichia coli (P <.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The microbiota in children with CD is characterized by decreased numbers of F praunsitzii and increased numbers of E coli.
Schwiertz
Andreas
A
Institute of Microecology, Herborn, Germany. andreas.schwiertz@mikrooek.de
Jacobi
Manuela
M
Frick
Julia-Stefanie
JS
Richter
Markus
M
Rusch
Kerstin
K
Köhler
Henrik
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000382:microbiology*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D007223:Infant; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D045857:Ruminococcus / Q000378:metabolism
D004269:DNA, Bacterial