Impact of Geographical Location on the Gut Microbiota Profile in Egyptian Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Pilot Study

Nahla M Elsherbiny,1 Mohammed Ramadan,2 Nagla H Abu Faddan,3 Elham Ahmed Hassan,4 Mohamed E Ali,2 Abeer Sharaf El-Din Abd El-Rehim,4 Wael A Abbas,5 Mohamed AA Abozaid,5 Ebtisam Hassanin,6 Ghada A Mohamed,7 Helal F Hetta,1 Mohammed Salah8 1Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Assiut Branch, Assiut, Egypt; 3Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; 4Department of Gastroenterology and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; 6Clinical Pathology, Ministry of Health, Assiut, Egypt; 7Department of Internal Medicine, Endocrine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; 8Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of pharmacy, Port Said University, Port Said, EgyptCorrespondence: Elham Ahmed Hassan, Department of Gastroenterology and Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, 71515, Egypt, Tel +20 882410285, Fax +20 882333327, Email mam_elham75@yahoo.com; elham.abdelhalem@med.aun.edu.egPurpose: To investigate the compositional and functional characteristics of T1DM-associated gut microbiota in two Egyptian cities and to study the geographical locality effects.Patients and Methods: This case-control study included 32 children with controlled T1DM and 16 controls, selected from two different regions of Egypt. The gut microbiota of both diabetic and control children was analyzed through 16S rRNA gene sequencing; this was done using the Illumina MiSeq platform.Results: Consistent findings among the diabetic children included significantly lower alpha diversity than the control children, as well as a lower mean Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio, and reduced proportions of Firmicut