Rotavirus (RV) is a leading cause of pediatric diarrhea and mortality worldwide. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis characterized by moderate to severe vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and fever. Microbial dysbiosis caused by RV infection may significantly influence disease prognosis and the development of other chronic diseases. The gut microbiome plays a vital role in enteric immune response for rotavirus vaccine (RVV) that requires further elucidations. The current study evaluates the gut microbiome of RV positive children and compares gastroenteritis manifestation in children admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Centre, Hamad Medical Cooperation, Doha, Qatar. Stool samples were collected from thirty-nine RV positive and eight healthy control children. 16S rRNA sequence was performed using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The data demonstrated a significant increase in microbiome diversity denoted by higher relative abundances of phylum Proteobacteria (p = 0.031), Fusobacteria (p = 0.044) and genus Streptococcus (p ≤ 0.001) in the infected group relative to the control. Similarly, district clustering pattern (PERMANOVA p = 0.01) and higher species richness (Shannon entropy p = 0.018) were observed in the children who received two RVV doses compared with the non-vaccinated or single-dose groups. These microbiome changes were represented by over-abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes (p = 0.003) and Verrucomicrobia (p ≤ 0.001), and lower expression of family Enterobacteriaceae in two RVV doses group. However, microbiome composition was not associated with diarrhea, vomiting, and other parameters of gastroenteritis. The observations assert significant microbial signatures of RVV, which is dose-dependent, and suggest manipulating these microbes as a novel approach for improving RVV efficacy. Further studies are warranted to investigate the immune status of these patients and mechanistic investigation to enhance RVV seroconversion.

中文翻译：

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轮状病毒感染的患急性胃肠炎的儿童的微生物组分析

轮状病毒（RV）是全球小儿腹泻和死亡的主要原因。该病毒引起急性肠胃炎，其特征为中度至重度呕吐，腹泻，脱水和发烧。RV感染引起的微生物营养不良可能会严重影响疾病的预后和其他慢性疾病的发展。肠道微生物组在轮状病毒疫苗（RVV）的肠道免疫应答中起着至关重要的作用，需要进一步阐明。目前的研究评估了RV阳性儿童的肠道微生物组，并比较了卡塔尔多哈哈马德医学合作医院儿科急诊中心收治的儿童的肠胃炎表现。从39例RV阳性儿童和8例健康对照儿童中收集粪便样本。使用Illumina MiSeq平台执行16S rRNA序列。数据表明，与对照组相比，感染组的门菌数量（p = 0.031），梭菌（p = 0.044）和链球菌属（p≤0.001）的相对丰度更高，表明微生物组多样性显着增加。类似地，与未接种疫苗或单剂量组相比，接受两次RVV剂量的儿童中观察到了区域聚类模式（PERMANOVA p = 0.01）和更高的物种丰富度（Shannon熵p = 0.018）。这些微生物组的变化表现为细菌双歧杆菌门（p = 0.003）和疣状微生物菌（p≤0.001）过剩，以及在两个RVV剂量组中肠杆菌科的表达较低。但是，微生物组的组成与肠胃炎的腹泻，呕吐和其他参数无关。这些观察断言RVV具有明显的微生物特征，这是剂量依赖性的，并建议将这些微生物作为提高RVV效力的一种新方法。有必要进行进一步的研究以调查这些患者的免疫状况，并进行旨在提高RVV血清转化的机制研究。