Altered gut microbiota correlates with cognitive impairment in Chinese children with Down’s syndrome

Abstract

Down's syndrome (DS), a common chromosomal disease caused by chromosome 21 trisomy, is the main cause of cognitive impairment in children worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that the microbiota–gut–brain axis plays a potential role in cognitive impairment. However, data regarding gut microbiota alterations in DS patients remain scarce, especially data from children with DS. This case–control study was conducted to explore the gut microbiota composition in Chinese DS children. Additionally, the potential association between gut microbiota and cognitive function in DS was evaluated. Microbiota communities in the feces of 15 DS subjects and 15 matched controls were investigated using high-throughput Illumina Miseq sequencing targeting the V3–V4 region of 16S rRNA gene. The relationships between gut microbiota composition and DS cognitive function scores were analyzed. The structure and richness of the gut microbiota differed between DS patients and healthy controls. The abundance of Acidaminococcaceae was decreased in DS patients. Moreover, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed increased modules related to peptidases and pyrimidine metabolism. Overall, we confirmed that gut microbiota alterations occurred in Chinese patients with DS. Additionally, the fecal microbiota was closely related to DS cognitive impairment. Larger cohorts are needed to confirm these findings and to clarify the mechanisms involved. Elucidating these novel findings in the field of microbiota-gut-brain axis will provide a promising strategy for future studies of DS cognitive impairment.

Profiling Blautia at high taxonomic resolution reveals correlations with cognitive dysfunction in Chinese children with Down syndrome

“…As a comparison of the group differences at the Blautia genus level, the quantitative PCR results showed that the relative abundance (RA) of Blautia was significantly decreased in the intestinal tract of children with DS (P < 0.05, Figure 2A). This result was consistent with our previous findings (Ren et al, 2022), which showed a significantly lower level of Blautia in children with DS. Taken together, these results indicate that the Blautia genus is disturbed in individuals with DS.…”

“…Cognitive tests were conducted by two well-trained pediatricians in a hospital conference room with no interference. As described in our previous study (Ren et al, 2022), the scores of FSIQ, PRI, VCI, WMI and PSI were all decreased in the DS group (all P < 0.001). The correlation coefficient of this type is approximately 0.857.…”

“…In our previous study, we observed the gut microbiota from DS patients showed different pattern compared with healthy controls. Besides, we identified that the Blautia genus was present at a lower relative abundance in the feces of children (Ren et al, 2022). As SCFA-producing bacteria, Blautia plays an important role in maintaining the environmental balance in the intestine and preventing inflammation.…”

“…All participants and their parents received oral and written information about the study and written consent was obtained before recruitment. All experiments were conducted in accordance with approved guidelines and regulations (Ren et al, 2022).…”

“…As described in our previous study (Ren et al, 2022), 15 children with DS were randomly recruited from integrated boarding schools in Beijing and its surrounding areas, and 15 age-and diet structurematched children were recruited as the healthy group. Fifteen pairs of samples were collected for amplicon sequencing analysis.…”