Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem worldwide. Perturbations in the gut microbiota composition have been associated with the development of obesity in both children and adults. Probiotics, on the other hand, are proven to restore the composition of the gut microbiome which helps reduce the development of obesity. However, data on the effect of probiotics on gut microbiota and its association with childhood obesity is limited. This study aims to determine the effect of probiotics supplement intervention on gut microbiota profiles in obese and normal-weight children. A total of 37 children, 17 normal weight, and 20 overweight school children from a government school in Selangor were selected to participate in this study. Participants were further divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention groups received daily probiotic drinks while the control groups continued eating their typical diet. Fecal samples were collected from the participants for DNA extraction. The hypervariable V3 and V4 regions of 16S rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform. No significant differences in alpha diversity were observed between normal weight and obese children in terms of the Shannon Index for evenness or species richness. However, a higher intervention effect on alpha diversity was observed among normal-weight participants compared to obese. The participants’ microbiome was found to fluctuate throughout the study. Analysis of the taxa at species level showed an increase in Bacteroides ovatus among the normal weight cohort. Genus-level comparison revealed a rise in genus Lachnospira and Ruminococcus in the overweight participants after intervention, compared to the normal-weight participants. The probiotics intervention causes an alteration in gut microbiota composition in both normal and overweight children. Though the association could not be defined statistically, this study has provided an improved understanding of the intervention effect of probiotics on gut microbiome dysbiosis in an underrepresented population.

儿童肥胖是全球范围内的严重公共卫生问题。肠道微生物群组成的摄动与儿童和成人肥胖的发展有关。另一方面，已证明益生菌可以恢复肠道微生物组的组成，从而有助于减少肥胖症的发生。但是，有关益生菌对肠道菌群的影响及其与儿童肥胖的关系的数据有限。这项研究旨在确定益生菌补充干预对肥胖和正常体重儿童肠道微生物群谱的影响。来自雪兰莪州一所公立学校的总共37名儿童，17名正常体重和20名超重中小学生被选中参加这项研究。参与者进一步分为干预组和对照组。干预组每天接受益生菌饮料，而对照组则继续饮食。从参与者收集粪便样品以进行DNA提取。使用Illumina MiSeq平台扩增和测序16S rRNA基因的高变V3和V4区。就香农指数的均匀性或物种丰富度而言，正常体重和肥胖儿童之间的α多样性没有显着差异。然而，与肥胖相比，正常体重参与者对α多样性的干预作用更高。发现参与者的微生物组在整个研究中波动。在物种一级对分类单元的分析表明 从参与者收集粪便样品以进行DNA提取。使用Illumina MiSeq平台扩增和测序16S rRNA基因的高变V3和V4区。就香农指数的均匀性或物种丰富度而言，正常体重和肥胖儿童之间的α多样性没有显着差异。然而，与肥胖相比，正常体重参与者对α多样性的干预作用更高。发现参与者的微生物组在整个研究中波动。在物种一级对分类单元的分析表明 从参与者收集粪便样品以进行DNA提取。使用Illumina MiSeq平台扩增和测序16S rRNA基因的高变V3和V4区。就香农指数的均匀度或物种丰富度而言，正常体重和肥胖儿童之间的α多样性没有显着差异。然而，与肥胖相比，正常体重参与者对α多样性的干预作用更高。发现参与者的微生物组在整个研究中波动。在物种一级对分类单元的分析表明 就香农指数的均匀度或物种丰富度而言，正常体重和肥胖儿童之间的α多样性没有显着差异。然而，与肥胖相比，正常体重参与者对α多样性的干预作用更高。发现参与者的微生物组在整个研究中波动。在物种一级对分类单元的分析表明 就香农指数的均匀性或物种丰富度而言，正常体重和肥胖儿童之间的α多样性没有显着差异。然而，与肥胖相比，正常体重参与者对α多样性的干预作用更高。发现参与者的微生物组在整个研究中波动。在物种一级对分类单元的分析表明正常体重队列中的卵形拟杆菌。属一级的比较，发现在属上升Lachnospira和瘤胃球菌属超重者参加干预后，相比正常体重的参与者。益生菌干预会导致正常儿童和超重儿童肠道菌群组成发生变化。尽管无法从统计学上定义这种关联，但这项研究对益生菌对代表性不足人群的肠道微生物组营养不良的干预作用提供了更好的理解。