Composition of gut microbiota of children and adolescents with perinatal HIV infection taking antiretroviral therapy in Zimbabwe

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2019-09
• Main Authors: Flygel, Trym T, Sovershaeva, Evgeniya, Classen-Weitz, Shantelle, Hjerde, Erik, Mwaikono, Kilaza S, Odland, Jon Ø, Ferrand, Rashida A, Mchugh, Grace, Gutteberg, Tore J, Nicol, Mark P, Cavanagh, Jorunn P, Flægstad, Trond
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical medical disciplines: 750; Communicable diseases: 776; Infeksjonsmedisin: 776; Klinisk medisinske fag: 750; Medical disciplines: 700; Medisinske Fag: 700; VDP
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz473

Background - Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection causes impairment of the gastrointestinal barrier, with substantial depletion of CD4+ T cells in the gut. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) restores CD4+ counts and may have beneficial effects on gut microbiota in adults. Little is known about effect of long-term ART on gut microbiome in HIV-infected children. We investigated composition of gut microbiota in HIV-infected and -uninfected children and assessed associations between gut microbiota and patient characteristics. Methods - In a cross-sectional study, rectal swabs were collected from 177 HIV-infected and 103 HIV-uninfected controls. Gut microbial composition was explored using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequencing. Results - Human immunodeficiency virus-infected children had significantly lower alpha-diversity and higher beta-diversity compared to HIV-uninfected. No association was observed between microbiome diversity and CD4+ T-cell count, HIV viral load, or HIV-associated chronic lung disease. We found enriched levels of Corynebacterium (P < .01), Finegoldia (P < .01), and Anaerococcus (P < .01) in HIV-infected participants and enrichment of Enterobacteriaceae (P = .02) in participants with low CD4+ counts (