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Temporal changes in gastrointestinal fungi and the risk of autoimmunity during early childhood : the TEDDY study

Auchtung, Thomas A ; Stewart, Christopher J ; Smith, Daniel P ; Triplett, Eric W ; Agardh, Daniel LU ; Hagopian, William A ; Ziegler, Anette G ; Rewers, Marian J ; She, Jin-Xiong and Toppari, Jorma , et al. (2022) In Nature Communications 13.
Abstract

Fungal infections are a major health problem that often begin in the gastrointestinal tract. Gut microbe interactions in early childhood are critical for proper immune responses, yet there is little known about the development of the fungal population from infancy into childhood. Here, as part of the TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) study, we examine stool samples of 888 children from 3 to 48 months and find considerable differences between fungi and bacteria. The metagenomic relative abundance of fungi was extremely low but increased while weaning from milk and formula. Overall fungal diversity remained constant over time, in contrast with the increase in bacterial diversity. Fungal profiles had high... (More)

Fungal infections are a major health problem that often begin in the gastrointestinal tract. Gut microbe interactions in early childhood are critical for proper immune responses, yet there is little known about the development of the fungal population from infancy into childhood. Here, as part of the TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) study, we examine stool samples of 888 children from 3 to 48 months and find considerable differences between fungi and bacteria. The metagenomic relative abundance of fungi was extremely low but increased while weaning from milk and formula. Overall fungal diversity remained constant over time, in contrast with the increase in bacterial diversity. Fungal profiles had high temporal variation, but there was less variation from month-to-month in an individual than among different children of the same age. Fungal composition varied with geography, diet, and the use of probiotics. Multiple Candida spp. were at higher relative abundance in children than adults, while Malassezia and certain food-associated fungi were lower in children. There were only subtle fungal differences associated with the subset of children that developed islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes. Having proper fungal exposures may be crucial for children to establish appropriate responses to fungi and limit the risk of infection: the data here suggests those gastrointestinal exposures are limited and variable.

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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Adult, Autoimmunity, Bacteria, Candida, Child, Child, Preschool, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Fungi, Gastrointestinal Tract/microbiology, Humans, Probiotics
in
Nature Communications
volume
13
article number
3151
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:35672407
  • scopus:85131477534
ISSN
2041-1723
DOI
10.1038/s41467-022-30686-w
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2022. The Author(s).
id
bdb798e4-ba96-49ec-8dc1-faa0446614fb
date added to LUP
2022-06-15 10:29:49
date last changed
2024-06-13 17:27:58
@article{bdb798e4-ba96-49ec-8dc1-faa0446614fb,
  abstract     = {{<p>Fungal infections are a major health problem that often begin in the gastrointestinal tract. Gut microbe interactions in early childhood are critical for proper immune responses, yet there is little known about the development of the fungal population from infancy into childhood. Here, as part of the TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) study, we examine stool samples of 888 children from 3 to 48 months and find considerable differences between fungi and bacteria. The metagenomic relative abundance of fungi was extremely low but increased while weaning from milk and formula. Overall fungal diversity remained constant over time, in contrast with the increase in bacterial diversity. Fungal profiles had high temporal variation, but there was less variation from month-to-month in an individual than among different children of the same age. Fungal composition varied with geography, diet, and the use of probiotics. Multiple Candida spp. were at higher relative abundance in children than adults, while Malassezia and certain food-associated fungi were lower in children. There were only subtle fungal differences associated with the subset of children that developed islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes. Having proper fungal exposures may be crucial for children to establish appropriate responses to fungi and limit the risk of infection: the data here suggests those gastrointestinal exposures are limited and variable.</p>}},
  author       = {{Auchtung, Thomas A and Stewart, Christopher J and Smith, Daniel P and Triplett, Eric W and Agardh, Daniel and Hagopian, William A and Ziegler, Anette G and Rewers, Marian J and She, Jin-Xiong and Toppari, Jorma and Lernmark, Åke and Akolkar, Beena and Krischer, Jeffrey P and Vehik, Kendra and Auchtung, Jennifer M and Ajami, Nadim J and Petrosino, Joseph F}},
  issn         = {{2041-1723}},
  keywords     = {{Adult; Autoimmunity; Bacteria; Candida; Child; Child, Preschool; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Fungi; Gastrointestinal Tract/microbiology; Humans; Probiotics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Nature Communications}},
  title        = {{Temporal changes in gastrointestinal fungi and the risk of autoimmunity during early childhood : the TEDDY study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30686-w}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41467-022-30686-w}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}