The gut microbiome in konzo.

Hans Manya, Eric Vilain, Desire Tshala-Katumbay, Ran Blekhman, Dieudonné Mumba Ngoyi, Arnaud Droit, Daniel Okitundu, J P Banae Mayambu, Michael Boivin, Brian Colwell, Mary N A Uy, Matthew S Bramble, Joanna Nsibu, Kevin Karume, Patrick Mamona Dilufwasayo, Michel Lupamba Kasendue, D' Andre Spencer, Alban Mathieu, Céleste Musasa, Sambhawa Priya, Arthur Ko, Neerja Vashist

Journal: Nature communications 2021;12(1):5371

PMID: 34508085

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Abstract

Konzo, a distinct upper motor neuron disease associated with a cyanogenic diet and chronic malnutrition, predominately affects children and women of childbearing age in sub-Saharan Africa. While the exact biological mechanisms that cause this disease have largely remained elusive, host-genetics and environmental components such as the gut microbiome have been implicated. Using a large study population of 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where konzo is most frequent, we investigate how the structure of the gut microbiome varied across geographical contexts, as well as provide the first insight into the gut flora of children affected with this debilitating disease using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our findings indicate that the gut microbiome structure is highly variable depending on region of sampling, but most interestingly, we identify unique enrichments of bacterial species and functional pathways that potentially modulate the susceptibility of konzo in prone regions of the Congo.

Address: Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.; Department of Genomics and Precision Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA.; Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.; Departments of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.; Computational Biology Laboratory, CHU de Québec - Université Laval Research Center, Québec City, QC, Canada.; Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), Kinshasa, DR, Congo.; College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Manila, Philippines.; School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.; Department of Psychiatry and Neurology & Ophthalmology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.; Ministry of Health National Program on Nutrition (PRONANUT), Kinshasa, DR, Congo.; Centre Neuro-Psychopathologique (CNPP), University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Congo.; Department of Tropical Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR, Congo.; Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB), Kinshasa, DR, Congo. [email protected].; Department of Neurology and School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA. [email protected].; Center for Genetic Medicine Research, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA. [email protected].; Department of Genomics and Precision Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA. [email protected].; International Research Laboratory of Epigenetics, Data, Politics, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Washington, DC, USA. [email protected].

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

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MeSH Terms: Child, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Disease Susceptibility, Feces, Feeding Behavior, Female, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Humans, Manihot, Metagenomics, Motor Neuron Disease, Nitriles