This preprint is under consideration at Microbiome. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research
Ankur Mutreja
University of Cambridge
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1118-8075
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
Escherichia coli (ETEC) are one of the top causes of diarrhoea in children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, large-scale pathogen burden studies in children have identified ETEC in the guts of symptomatic patients and controls. The factors that influence this balance between carriage and disease are poorly understood, but it is postulated that the gut microbiome may play a role in either resistance or progression to disease. In this study, we investigated the microbiome profiles, using shotgun DNA sequencing, of children and adults from Bangladesh who were asymptomatically or symptomatically infected with ETEC.
Results
Symptomatic patients had significantly higher numbers of sequenced reads mapping to both E. coli and the two ETEC toxins (LT and ST), suggesting higher bacterial burden. They were also significantly more likely to be co-infected with enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and had higher proportions of other Gammaproteobacteria, including Klebsiella, Salmonella, and Haemophilus. Colonisation with ETEC (symptomatic or asymptomatic) was also associated with increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, most notably those of the b-lactamase class. Taxonomic profiles were distinctly different between all groups in both species richness (alpha diversity) and composition (beta diversity), although the direction of these changes was different in adults and children. As seen in previous studies, children with high E. coli burdens also had higher proportions of Streptococcus spp., while healthy children were more heavily colonised by several Bifidobacterium spp.
Conclusions
Our study provides insight into the microbiome changes that occur upon infection with ETEC in an endemic setting, and provides rationale for future studies investigating how the microbiome may protect or predispose individuals to symptomatic infections with gastrointestinal pathogens.
Keywords
ETEC, microbiome, metagenomics
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
- Additionalfile1.xlsx
Additional file 1. Supplementary tables 1A and 1B. Significant differences in bacterial abundance between samples with high E. coli burden and those with low E. coli burden at the species level. A positive log2 median ratio represents species that were overabundant in low E. coli burden subjects, while a negative ratio indicates bacteria more prevalent in high E. coli samples. Samples from children are shown in table 1A, and adults in table 1B.
Loading...
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Under Review
Version 1
Posted 09 Nov, 2021
No community comments so far
Editor assigned
On 03 Nov, 2021
Submission checks complete
On 02 Nov, 2021
Editor invited
On 02 Nov, 2021
First submitted
On 29 Oct, 2021
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
General Microbiology
Learn more about our company.
This preprint is under consideration at Microbiome. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research
Ankur Mutreja
University of Cambridge
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1118-8075
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Under Review
Version 1
Posted 09 Nov, 2021
No community comments so far
Editor assigned
On 03 Nov, 2021
Submission checks complete
On 02 Nov, 2021
Editor invited
On 02 Nov, 2021
First submitted
On 29 Oct, 2021
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
General Microbiology
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background
Escherichia coli (ETEC) are one of the top causes of diarrhoea in children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, large-scale pathogen burden studies in children have identified ETEC in the guts of symptomatic patients and controls. The factors that influence this balance between carriage and disease are poorly understood, but it is postulated that the gut microbiome may play a role in either resistance or progression to disease. In this study, we investigated the microbiome profiles, using shotgun DNA sequencing, of children and adults from Bangladesh who were asymptomatically or symptomatically infected with ETEC.
Results
Symptomatic patients had significantly higher numbers of sequenced reads mapping to both E. coli and the two ETEC toxins (LT and ST), suggesting higher bacterial burden. They were also significantly more likely to be co-infected with enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and had higher proportions of other Gammaproteobacteria, including Klebsiella, Salmonella, and Haemophilus. Colonisation with ETEC (symptomatic or asymptomatic) was also associated with increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, most notably those of the b-lactamase class. Taxonomic profiles were distinctly different between all groups in both species richness (alpha diversity) and composition (beta diversity), although the direction of these changes was different in adults and children. As seen in previous studies, children with high E. coli burdens also had higher proportions of Streptococcus spp., while healthy children were more heavily colonised by several Bifidobacterium spp.
Conclusions
Our study provides insight into the microbiome changes that occur upon infection with ETEC in an endemic setting, and provides rationale for future studies investigating how the microbiome may protect or predispose individuals to symptomatic infections with gastrointestinal pathogens.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
- Additionalfile1.xlsx
Additional file 1. Supplementary tables 1A and 1B. Significant differences in bacterial abundance between samples with high E. coli burden and those with low E. coli burden at the species level. A positive log2 median ratio represents species that were overabundant in low E. coli burden subjects, while a negative ratio indicates bacteria more prevalent in high E. coli samples. Samples from children are shown in table 1A, and adults in table 1B.
Loading...