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The upper respiratory tract microbiome of indigenous Orang Asli in north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia.

Authors :
Cleary DW
Morris DE
Anderson RA
Jones J
Alattraqchi AG
A Rahman NI
Ismail S
Razali MS
Mohd Amin R
Abd Aziz A
Esa NK
Amiruddin S
Chew CH
Simin H
Abdullah R
Yeo CC
Clarke SC
Source :
NPJ biofilms and microbiomes [NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes] 2021 Jan 05; Vol. 7 (1), pp. 1. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jan 05.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Much microbiome research has focused on populations that are predominantly of European descent, and from narrow demographics that do not capture the socio-economic and lifestyle differences which impact human health. Here we examined the airway microbiomes of the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. A total of 130 participants were recruited from two sites in the north-eastern state of Terengganu in Peninsular Malaysia. Using 16S rRNA sequencing, the nasal microbiome was significantly more diverse in those aged 5-17 years compared to 50+ years (p = 0.023) and clustered by age (PERMANOVA analysis of the Bray-Curtis distance, p = 0.001). Hierarchical clustering of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity scores revealed six microbiome clusters. The largest cluster (n = 28; 35.4%) had a marked abundance of Corynebacterium. In the oral microbiomes Streptococcus, Neisseria and Haemophilus were dominant. Using conventional microbiology, high levels of Staphylococcus aureus carriage were observed, particularly in the 18-65 age group (n = 17/36; 47.2% 95% CI: 30.9-63.5). The highest carriage of pneumococci was in the <5 and 5 to 17 year olds, with 57.1% (4/7) and 49.2% (30/61), respectively. Sixteen pneumococcal serotypes were identified, the most common being the nonvaccine-type 23A (14.6%) and the vaccine-type 6B (9.8%). The prevalence of pneumococcal serotypes covered by pneumococcal conjugate vaccines support introduction into a Malaysian national immunisation schedule. In addition, the dominance of Corynebacterium in the airway microbiomes is intriguing given their role as a potentially protective commensal with respect to acute infection and respiratory health.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2055-5008
Volume :
7
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
NPJ biofilms and microbiomes
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33402693
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-020-00173-5