AUTHOR=Guo Xiaoying , Lan Zixin , Wen Yaling , Zheng Chanjiao , Rong Zuhua , Liu Tao , Chen Siyi , Yang Xingfen , Zheng Huimin , Wu Wei 

TITLE=Synbiotics Supplements Lower the Risk of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in Children, Potentially by Providing Resistance to Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.729756

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2021.729756

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute enterovirus-induced disease. Gut microbiota dysbiosis has been identified as a factor that plays an important role in enteral virus infection, but the gut microbiota profile in hand, foot and mouth disease has rarely been studied in a large population.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>A total of 749 children (HFMD: n = 262, healthy control: n = 487) aged 2 to 7 years were recruited from hospitals and communities in the period from May to July, 2017. Clinical and demographical information was collected by trained personnel, and fecal samples were collected and processed for 16S ribosomal RNA(rRNA) gene sequencing.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>We observed a significant alteration in the microbiota profile of children with HFMD compared with that of control children. Patients with enteroviruses A71(EV71) positive had more dysbiotic gut microbiota than those with coxsackievirus A16 (CAV16) positive. We found that <italic>Prevotella</italic> and <italic>Streptococcus</italic> were enriched in children with HFMD, whereas beneficial bacteria, including <italic>Bifidobacterium</italic> and <italic>Faecalibacterium</italic>, were depleted. Children with synbiotics supplements had lower risk of HFMD and we observed that the gut microbiota of HFMD patients who were administered synbiotics exhibited potential resistance to the dysbiosis detected in HFMD.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>This study suggested that the gut microbiota of patients with hand, foot and mouth disease exhibits dysbiosis and that synbiotics supplements potentially helps maintain the homeostasis of the gut flora.</p></sec>