title: Vitamin A deficiency impacts the structural segregation of gut microbiota in children with persistent diarrhea.
abstract: To investigate whether gut microbiota is associated with vitamin A nutritional levels in children with persistent diarrhea, a total of 59 pediatric patients with persistent diarrhea aged 1-12 months were selected from the Department of Gastroenterology at the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China. Subjects were hospitalized and divided into VA-deficient (n= 30) and VA-normal (n= 29) groups according to their venous serum retinol levels. Fecal samples from all 59 subjects were collected immediately after admission and analyzed by Illumina MiSeq for 16S rRNA genes to characterize the overall microbiota of the samples. The gut microbiota of the VA-deficient and VA-normal groups were compared using a bioinformatic statistical approach. The Shannon index (p= 0.02), Simpson index (p= 0.01) and component diagram data indicated significantly lower diversity in the VA-deficient than the VA-normal group. A metagenome analysis (LEfSe) and a differentially abundant features approach using Metastats revealed thatEscherichia coliandClostridium butyricumwere the key phylotypes of the VA-normal group, whileEnterococcuspredominated the VA-deficient group. In conclusion, the diversity of gut microbiota and the key phylotypes are significantly different in children with persistent diarrhea at different VA nutritional levels.
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Zeyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Yuting
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Zhongyue
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Department of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Huajian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Tingyu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Key Laboratory of Pediatrics in Chongqing, Zhongshan Second Road of Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400014, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: children; gut microbiota; key phylotype; persistent diarrhea (PD); vitamin A deficiency (VAD)