TY - JOUR
T1 - Microbial community networks across body sites are associated with susceptibility to respiratory infections in infants
AU - Reyman, Marta
AU - Clerc, Melanie
AU - van Houten, Marlies A.
AU - Arp, Kayleigh
AU - Chu, Mei Ling J.N.
AU - Hasrat, Raiza
AU - Sanders, Elisabeth A.M.
AU - Bogaert, Debby
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are most grateful for the participation of all the children and their families in the Microbiome Utrecht Infant study (MUIS study). We would like to acknowledge all the members of our research team at the Spaarne Gasthuis Academy and the UMC Utrecht, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecologist of the Spaarne Gasthuis (Hoofddorp and Haarlem, the Netherlands), and participating midwifery clinics. This work was supported in part by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO-VIDI; grant 91715359) and CSO/NRS Scottish Senior Clinical Fellowship award (SCAF/16/03). The study was co-sponsored by the Spaarne Hospital Hoofddorp and Haarlem and the University of Edinburgh.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/10/28
Y1 - 2021/10/28
N2 - Respiratory tract infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide in young children. Concepts such as the gut-lung axis have highlighted the impact of microbial communities at distal sites in mediating disease locally. However, little is known about the extent to which microbial communities from multiple body sites are linked, and how this relates to disease susceptibility. Here, we combine 16S-based rRNA sequencing data from 112 healthy, term born infants, spanning three body sites (oral cavity, nasopharynx, gut) and the first six months of life. Using a cross-niche microbial network approach, we show that, already from the first week of life on, there is a strong association between both network structure and species essential to these structures (hub species), and consecutive susceptibility to respiratory tract infections in this cohort. Our findings underline the crucial role of cross-niche microbial connections in respiratory health.
AB - Respiratory tract infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide in young children. Concepts such as the gut-lung axis have highlighted the impact of microbial communities at distal sites in mediating disease locally. However, little is known about the extent to which microbial communities from multiple body sites are linked, and how this relates to disease susceptibility. Here, we combine 16S-based rRNA sequencing data from 112 healthy, term born infants, spanning three body sites (oral cavity, nasopharynx, gut) and the first six months of life. Using a cross-niche microbial network approach, we show that, already from the first week of life on, there is a strong association between both network structure and species essential to these structures (hub species), and consecutive susceptibility to respiratory tract infections in this cohort. Our findings underline the crucial role of cross-niche microbial connections in respiratory health.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118322964&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s42003-021-02755-1
DO - 10.1038/s42003-021-02755-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 34711948
AN - SCOPUS:85118322964
SN - 2399-3642
VL - 4
JO - Communications biology
JF - Communications biology
IS - 1
M1 - 1233
ER -