Metabolic alterations in children with environmental enteric dysfunction.
Environmental enteric dysfunction, an asymptomatic condition characterized by inflammation of the small bowel mucosa, villous atrophy, malabsorption, and increased intestinal permeability, is a major contributor to childhood stunting in low-income countries. Here we report the relationship of increased intestinal permeability with serum metabolites in 315 children without acute malnutrition, aged 12-59 months, in rural Malawi. Increased gut permeability was associated with significant differences in circulating metabolites that included lower serum phosphatidylcholines, sphingomyelins, tryptophan, ornithine, and citrulline, and elevated serum glutamate, taurine, and serotonin. Our findings suggest that environmental enteric dysfunction is characterized by alterations in important metabolites involved in growth and differentiation and gut function and integrity.
Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
Richard D
RD
Semba
National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
Michelle
M
Shardell
Department of Pediatrics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA.|School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi.
Indi
I
Trehan
National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
Ruin
R
Moaddel
School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi.
Kenneth M
KM
Maleta
Department of Pediatrics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA.
M Isabel
MI
Ordiz
Sight and Life,, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland.|Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public HealthBaltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Klaus
K
Kraemer
National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
Mohammed
M
Khadeer
National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
Luigi
L
Ferrucci
Department of Pediatrics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110 USA.|School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi.
Mark J
MJ
Manary
D002675:Child, Preschool; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D008295:Malawi; D008297:Male; D055432:Metabolomics / Q000379:methods*; D010539:Permeability; D012424:Rural Population; D044967:Serum / Q000737:chemistry*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry