A stable gut microbiome supports child growth

Malnutrition remains one of the leading causes of death in children under five, affecting nearly 150 million children worldwide, who suffer from stunted growth due to nutrient deficiencies.

However, recent research indicates that the problem is not limited to diet alone: ​​gut microbial communities also play a key role.

An international team led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that children with unstable gut microbiomes—the bacteria that live in our bodies—show poorer growth than those with more stable microbial communities. The study, published in the journal Cell and conducted in Malawi—one of the countries most affected by malnutrition—followed eight young children at high risk of stunting and acute malnutrition for nearly a year.

The results reveal that microbial stability could be an indicator of good gut health and a determining factor for child development. " We know that gut microbes are important mediators of malnutrition . Understanding how their changes directly contribute to this condition opens the door to new diagnostic and treatment methods for millions of children around the world," says pediatrician Mark J. Manary , co-author of the study.

The work also achieved a technological breakthrough: the creation of the first pediatric microbial library for malnutrition, a public catalog that brings together the complete genomes of 986 microbes obtained from fecal samples. Using long-read DNA sequencing, the scientists reconstructed a much more complete genetic landscape than that achieved with traditional techniques , obtaining 50 times more genomes.

This resource will allow for the identification of microbial patterns associated with growth, the prediction of malnutrition risks, and the development of new interventions. Furthermore, the optimized sequencing methodology can be applied to other fields such as pandemic surveillance, antibiotic resistance, agriculture, and environmental conservation.

“For a decade, we’ve known that the microbiome was implicated in malnutrition, but we didn’t have enough resolution to identify key microbes. Now we’ve shown that genetic instability in gut bacteria is linked to poor growth. This opens up new possibilities for combating a crisis that affects more than 150 million children,” explained Todd Michael, co-author and research professor at the Salk Institute .