The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of cystic fibrosis and antibiotic therapy on intestinal microbiota composition and intestinal inflammation in children and adolescents. A cross-sectional controlled study was conducted with 36 children and adolescents: 19 in the cystic fibrosis group (CFG) and 17 in the control group (CG) matched for age and sex. The CFG was subdivided based on the use of antibiotic therapy (CFAB group) and non-use of antibiotic therapy (CFnAB group). The following data were evaluated: colonization, antibiotic therapy, mutation, breastfeeding, use of infant formula, type of delivery, introduction of solid foods, body mass index, fecal calprotectin and intestinal microbiota composition (fluorescence in situ hybridization). Intestinal inflammation evaluated by fecal calprotectin was significantly higher in the CFG (median: 40.80 µg/g, IQR: 19.80–87.10, p = 0.040) and CFAB group (median: 62.95 µg/g, IQR: 21.80–136.62, p = 0.045) compared to the CG (median: 20.15 µg/g, IQR: 16.20–31.00), and the Bacteroides, Firmicutes, Eubacterium rectale and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the CFG compared to the CG, whereas the bacteria Clostridium difficile, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were significantly increased in the CFG (p < 0.05). The main differences were found between the CG and CFAB group for Eubacterium rectale (p = 0.006), Bifidobacterium (p = 0.017), Escherichia coli (p = 0.030), Firmicutes (p = 0.002), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (p < 0.001) and Clostridium difficile (p = 0.006). The results of this study confirm intestinal inflammation in patients with CF, which may be related to changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota.

This article aims to present general methodological aspects of the Brazilian National Survey on Child Nutrition (ENANI-2019), from the conception of the study design to details of the data collection. This is a household-based population survey with a sample calculated at 15,000 households to identify children under five years of age, conducted in 123 municipalities in Brazil’s 26 states and the Federal District. ENANI-2019 includes data on breastfeeding and dietary intake; anthropometric nutritional status of all children and their biological mothers; and nutritional status concerning the following micronutrients: iron (hemoglobin and ferritin), zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, B1, B6, B12, D, E, and folic acid of children from 6 to 59 months of age. A total of 193,212 households were visited, of which 19,951 were eligible, and 12,524 were included in the study. A total of 14,558 children were studied, of whom 13,990 (96.1%) and 13,921 (95.6%) had their body mass and length/stature measured, respectively, and 14,541 (99.9%) underwent 24-hour dietary recalls (24HR). Of the 12,598 children eligible for blood sample collection, 8,739 (69.3%) had at least one laboratory parameter measured. Data were collected from February 2019 to March 2020, when the survey was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The evidence produced by the ENANI-2019 survey can back the formulation, follow-up, and/or reorientation of food and nutrition policies such as the promotion of breastfeeding and healthy eating and the prevention and control of different forms of malnutrition.

The gastrointestinal microbiota plays a critical role in nutritional, metabolic, and immune functions in infants and young children and has implications for future lung health status. Understanding the role of intestinal dysbiosis in chronic lung disease progression will provide opportunities to design early interventions to improve the course of the disease. Gut microbiota is established within the first 1 to 3 years of life and remains relatively stable throughout the life span. In this review, we report the recent development in research in gut-lung axis, with focus on the effects of targeting microbiota of infants and children at risk of or with progressive lung diseases. The basic concept is to exploit this approach in critical window to achieve the best results in the control of future health.

BackgroundRotavirus (RV) induces diarrhoea through a sequence of enterotoxic and cytotoxic effects. The former are NSP4-dependent, induce calcium-dependent chloride secretion and involve oxidative stress. Diosmectite (DS) is a natural clay that has been recommended as an active therapy for diarrhoea, but the mechanism of its effect is not clear. Electrical parameters may be used to measure the direct enterotoxic and cytotoxic effects in polar epithelial intestinal cells. To investigate the effects of DS on RV-induced enterotoxic and cytotoxic damage. Caco-2 cells were used as a model of RV infection to evaluate chloride secretion, epithelial integrity, oxidative stress and viral infectivity in Ussing chambers.ResultsDiosmectite reduced the expression of NSP4 and oxidative stress, resulting in a strong inhibition of chloride secretion. Preincubating RV with DS reduced the cytotoxic effect. Finally, the viral load was reduced by DS but not by control clay. This result suggests that DS specifically affects the early events of RV infection protecting the enterocyte, whereas it does not restore already-established cell damage.ConclusionThese findings indicate that DS exerts an anti-diarrhoeal effect by inhibiting viral replication and the expression of NSP4. Both ion secretion and cell damage induced by RV are strongly inhibited consequent to the antiviral effect, which explains its clinical efficacy.

In the present study, neurologic diseases, HNC, male sex and underweight were associated to impaired swallowing efficacy. Underweight, independently of the other variables, was not associated with impaired swallowing safety.