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Wen B, Farooqui A, Bourdon C, Tarafdar N, Ngari M, Chimwezi E, Thitiri J, Mwalekwa L, Walson JL, Voskuijl W, Berkley JA, Bandsma RHJ. Intestinal disturbances associated with mortality of children with complicated severe malnutrition. Commun Med (Lond) 2023; 3:128. [PMID: 37773543 PMCID: PMC10541881 DOI: 10.1038/s43856-023-00355-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children admitted to hospital with complicated severe malnutrition (CSM) have high mortality despite compliance with standard WHO management guidelines. Limited data suggests a relationship between intestinal dysfunction and poor prognosis in CSM, but this has not been explicitly studied. This study aimed to evaluate the role of intestinal disturbances in CSM mortality. METHODS A case-control study nested within a randomized control trial was conducted among children hospitalized with CSM in Kenya and Malawi. Children who died (cases, n = 68) were compared with those who were discharged, propensity matched to the cases on age, HIV and nutritional status (controls, n = 68) on fecal metabolomics that targeted about 70 commonly measured metabolites, and enteropathy markers: fecal myeloperoxidase (MPO), fecal calprotectin, and circulating intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP). RESULTS The fecal metabolomes of cases show specific reductions in amino acids, monosaccharides, and microbial fermentation products, when compared to controls. SCFA levels did not differ between groups. The overall fecal metabolomics signature moderately differentiates cases from controls (AUC = 0.72). Enteropathy markers do not differ between groups overall, although serum I-FABP is elevated in cases in a sensitivity analysis among non-edematous children. Integrative analysis with systemic data suggests an indirect role of intestinal inflammation in the causal path of mortality. CONCLUSIONS Intestinal disturbances appear to have an indirect association with acute mortality. Findings of the study improve our understanding of pathophysiological pathways underlying mortality of children with CSM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bijun Wen
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Department of Translational medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Amber Farooqui
- Department of Translational medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Celine Bourdon
- Department of Translational medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nawar Tarafdar
- Department of Translational medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
| | - Moses Ngari
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya
- KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
| | | | - Johnstone Thitiri
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya
- KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
| | - Laura Mwalekwa
- KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
- Department of Paediatrics, Coast General Hospital, Mombasa, Kenya
| | - Judd L Walson
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya
- Departments of Global Health, Medicine, Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Wieger Voskuijl
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya
- Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Department of Global Health, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (formerly College of Medicine), Blantyre, Malawi
| | - James A Berkley
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya
- KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
- Centre for Tropical Medicine & Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Robert H J Bandsma
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
- Department of Translational medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
- The Childhood Acute Illness & Nutrition Network, Nairobi, Kenya.
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (formerly College of Medicine), Blantyre, Malawi.
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