The gut microbiome in konzo

Matthew S. Bramble; Neerja Vashist; Arthur Ko; Sambhawa Priya; Céleste Musasa; Alban Mathieu; D’ Andre Spencer; Michel Lupamba Kasendue; Patrick Mamona Dilufwasayo; Kevin Karume; Joanna Nsibu; Hans Manya; Mary N.A. Uy; Brian Colwell; Michael Boivin; J. P.Banae Mayambu; Daniel Okitundu; Arnaud Droit; Dieudonné Mumba Ngoyi; Ran Blekhman; Desire Tshala-Katumbay; Eric Vilain

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

The gut microbiome in konzo

Matthew S. Bramble, Neerja Vashist, Arthur Ko, Sambhawa Priya, Céleste Musasa, Alban Mathieu, D’ Andre Spencer, Michel Lupamba Kasendue, Patrick Mamona Dilufwasayo, Kevin Karume, Joanna Nsibu, Hans Manya, Mary N.A. Uy, Brian Colwell, Michael Boivin, J. P.Banae Mayambu, Daniel Okitundu, Arnaud Droit, Dieudonné Mumba Ngoyi, Ran BlekhmanDesire Tshala-Katumbay, Eric Vilain

Neurology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Konzo, a distinct upper motor neuron disease associated with a cyanogenic diet and chronic malnutrition, predominately affects children and women of childbearing age in sub-Saharan Africa. While the exact biological mechanisms that cause this disease have largely remained elusive, host-genetics and environmental components such as the gut microbiome have been implicated. Using a large study population of 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where konzo is most frequent, we investigate how the structure of the gut microbiome varied across geographical contexts, as well as provide the first insight into the gut flora of children affected with this debilitating disease using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our findings indicate that the gut microbiome structure is highly variable depending on region of sampling, but most interestingly, we identify unique enrichments of bacterial species and functional pathways that potentially modulate the susceptibility of konzo in prone regions of the Congo.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	5371
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1
State	Published - Dec 1 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy(all)
Chemistry(all)
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

Cite this

Bramble, M. S., Vashist, N., Ko, A., Priya, S., Musasa, C., Mathieu, A., Spencer, D. A., Lupamba Kasendue, M., Mamona Dilufwasayo, P., Karume, K., Nsibu, J., Manya, H., Uy, M. N. A., Colwell, B., Boivin, M., Mayambu, J. P. B., Okitundu, D., Droit, A., Mumba Ngoyi, D., ... Vilain, E. (2021). The gut microbiome in konzo. Nature communications, 12(1), Article 5371. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

Bramble, MS, Vashist, N, Ko, A, Priya, S, Musasa, C, Mathieu, A, Spencer, DA, Lupamba Kasendue, M, Mamona Dilufwasayo, P, Karume, K, Nsibu, J, Manya, H, Uy, MNA, Colwell, B, Boivin, M, Mayambu, JPB, Okitundu, D, Droit, A, Mumba Ngoyi, D, Blekhman, R, Tshala-Katumbay, D & Vilain, E 2021, 'The gut microbiome in konzo', Nature communications, vol. 12, no. 1, 5371. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

@article{4d6508234e104aac901e55f8dfe19d32,

title = "The gut microbiome in konzo",

abstract = "Konzo, a distinct upper motor neuron disease associated with a cyanogenic diet and chronic malnutrition, predominately affects children and women of childbearing age in sub-Saharan Africa. While the exact biological mechanisms that cause this disease have largely remained elusive, host-genetics and environmental components such as the gut microbiome have been implicated. Using a large study population of 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where konzo is most frequent, we investigate how the structure of the gut microbiome varied across geographical contexts, as well as provide the first insight into the gut flora of children affected with this debilitating disease using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our findings indicate that the gut microbiome structure is highly variable depending on region of sampling, but most interestingly, we identify unique enrichments of bacterial species and functional pathways that potentially modulate the susceptibility of konzo in prone regions of the Congo.",

author = "Bramble, {Matthew S.} and Neerja Vashist and Arthur Ko and Sambhawa Priya and C{\'e}leste Musasa and Alban Mathieu and Spencer, {D{\textquoteright} Andre} and {Lupamba Kasendue}, Michel and {Mamona Dilufwasayo}, Patrick and Kevin Karume and Joanna Nsibu and Hans Manya and Uy, {Mary N.A.} and Brian Colwell and Michael Boivin and Mayambu, {J. P.Banae} and Daniel Okitundu and Arnaud Droit and {Mumba Ngoyi}, Dieudonn{\'e} and Ran Blekhman and Desire Tshala-Katumbay and Eric Vilain",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank all of the Congolese participants of this study for kindly donating specimens for microbial analysis. We would also like to thank the funding sources for this project, with DTK being supported by NIH grant NIEHS/FIC R01ES019841, E.V. being supported by the A. James Clark Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics Endowment and M.S.B. being supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number D43TW009343 and the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI); The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or UCGHI. We would also to acknowledge the passing of a co-author, Jean-Pierre Banea Mayambu, a pioneer in the field of konzo, who will truly be missed. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "12",

journal = "Nature communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The gut microbiome in konzo

AU - Bramble, Matthew S.

AU - Vashist, Neerja

AU - Ko, Arthur

AU - Priya, Sambhawa

AU - Musasa, Céleste

AU - Mathieu, Alban

AU - Spencer, D’ Andre

AU - Lupamba Kasendue, Michel

AU - Mamona Dilufwasayo, Patrick

AU - Karume, Kevin

AU - Nsibu, Joanna

AU - Manya, Hans

AU - Uy, Mary N.A.

AU - Colwell, Brian

AU - Boivin, Michael

AU - Mayambu, J. P.Banae

AU - Okitundu, Daniel

AU - Droit, Arnaud

AU - Mumba Ngoyi, Dieudonné

AU - Blekhman, Ran

AU - Tshala-Katumbay, Desire

AU - Vilain, Eric

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank all of the Congolese participants of this study for kindly donating specimens for microbial analysis. We would also like to thank the funding sources for this project, with DTK being supported by NIH grant NIEHS/FIC R01ES019841, E.V. being supported by the A. James Clark Distinguished Professor of Molecular Genetics Endowment and M.S.B. being supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Award Number D43TW009343 and the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI); The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or UCGHI. We would also to acknowledge the passing of a co-author, Jean-Pierre Banea Mayambu, a pioneer in the field of konzo, who will truly be missed. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).

PY - 2021/12/1

Y1 - 2021/12/1

N2 - Konzo, a distinct upper motor neuron disease associated with a cyanogenic diet and chronic malnutrition, predominately affects children and women of childbearing age in sub-Saharan Africa. While the exact biological mechanisms that cause this disease have largely remained elusive, host-genetics and environmental components such as the gut microbiome have been implicated. Using a large study population of 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where konzo is most frequent, we investigate how the structure of the gut microbiome varied across geographical contexts, as well as provide the first insight into the gut flora of children affected with this debilitating disease using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our findings indicate that the gut microbiome structure is highly variable depending on region of sampling, but most interestingly, we identify unique enrichments of bacterial species and functional pathways that potentially modulate the susceptibility of konzo in prone regions of the Congo.

AB - Konzo, a distinct upper motor neuron disease associated with a cyanogenic diet and chronic malnutrition, predominately affects children and women of childbearing age in sub-Saharan Africa. While the exact biological mechanisms that cause this disease have largely remained elusive, host-genetics and environmental components such as the gut microbiome have been implicated. Using a large study population of 180 individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where konzo is most frequent, we investigate how the structure of the gut microbiome varied across geographical contexts, as well as provide the first insight into the gut flora of children affected with this debilitating disease using shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our findings indicate that the gut microbiome structure is highly variable depending on region of sampling, but most interestingly, we identify unique enrichments of bacterial species and functional pathways that potentially modulate the susceptibility of konzo in prone regions of the Congo.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114812727&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85114812727&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-25694-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 34508085

AN - SCOPUS:85114812727

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 12

JO - Nature communications

JF - Nature communications

IS - 1

M1 - 5371

ER -

The gut microbiome in konzo

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this