Impact of nutrition and rotavirus infection on the infant gut microbiota in a humanized pig model

Journal Article · Fri Jun 22 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · BMC Gastroenterology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12876-018-0810-2· OSTI ID:1626854

Kumar, Anand ^[1]; Vlasova, Anastasia N. ^[2]; Deblais, Loic ^[2]; Huang, Huang-Chi ^[2]; Wijeratne, Asela ^[3]; Kandasamy, Sukumar ^[2]; Fischer, David D. ^[2]; Langel, Stephanie N. ^[2]; Paim, Francine Chimelo ^[2]; Alhamo, Moyasar A. ^[2]; Shao, Lulu ^[4]; Saif, Linda J. ^[2]; Rajashekara, Gireesh ^[2]

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1. The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH (United States). Food Animal Research Program, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center,Veterinary Preventive Medicine Department; Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Biosecurity and Public Health, Bioscience Div.; DOE/OSTI
2. The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH (United States). Food Animal Research Program, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center,Veterinary Preventive Medicine Department
3. The Ohio State Univ., Wooster, OH (United States). The Molecular and Cellular Imaging Center
4. The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH (United States). Food Animal Research Program, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Veterinary Preventive Medicine Department; Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Hillman Cancer Center,

Background Human rotavirus (HRV) is a major cause of viral gastroenteritis in infants; particularly in developing countries where malnutrition is prevalent. Malnutrition perturbs the infant gut microbiota leading to sub-optimal functioning of the immune system and further predisposing infants to enteric infections. Therefore, we hypothesized that malnutrition exacerbates rotavirus disease severity in infants. Methods In the present study, we used a neonatal germ free (GF) piglets transplanted with a two-month-old human infant’s fecal microbiota (HIFM) on protein deficient and sufficient diets. We report the effects of malnourishment on the HRV infection and the HIFM pig microbiota in feces, intestinal and systemic tissues, using MiSeq 16S gene sequencing (V₄-V₅ region). Results Microbiota analysis indicated that the HIFM transplantation resulted in a microbial composition in pigs similar to that of the original infant feces. This model was then used to understand the interconnections between microbiota diversity, diet, and HRV infection. Post HRV infection, HIFM pigs on the deficient diet had lower body weights, developed more severe diarrhea and increased virus shedding compared to HIFM pigs on sufficient diet. However, HRV induced diarrhea and shedding was more pronounced in non-colonized GF pigs compared to HIFM pigs on either sufficient or deficient diet, suggesting that the microbiota alone moderated HRV infection. HRV infected pigs on sufficient diet showed increased microbiota diversity in intestinal tissues; whereas, greater diversity was observed in systemic tissues of HRV infected pigs fed with deficient diet. Conclusions These results suggest that proper nourishment improves the microbiota quality in the intestines, alleviates HRV disease and lower probability of systemic translocation of potential opportunistic pathogens/pathobionts. In conclusion, our findings further support the role for microbiota and proper nutrition in limiting enteric diseases.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasis (NIAID); National Institutes of Health (NIH); Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC); Ohio State University; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1626854
• Journal Information: BMC Gastroenterology, Journal Name: BMC Gastroenterology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 18; ISSN 1471-230X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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