Childhood undernutrition, the gut microbiota, and microbiota-directed therapeutics

Abstract

Gut microbiota and undernutrition Poor nutrition during the early years of life can have severe consequences for subsequent skeletal, immunological, and intellectual development. Blanton et al. review the evidence showing that undernutrition is not caused by food insecurity alone. Other factors range from the length of the breastfeeding period and the availability of milk oligosaccharides, enteropathogen exposure, and enteric dysfunction marked by villus atrophy and loss of gut barrier function. Unfortunately, the current practice of nutritional restoration with or without antibiotic treatment may not be effective in the longer term. Differences in the succession of microbial establishment and maturity might contribute to family discordances in nutritional status. Thus, microbiota-directed therapeutics could be a promising route to nutritional restoration in these children. Science , this issue p. 1533