Microbiota Profile with Stunting Children in West Sumatera Province, Indonesia
BACKGROUND: Microbiota profile plays an important role in the growth of children. Recently, a number of microbiota profile studies have illustrated association with child stunting. AIM: Here, this study applied microbiota profile for stunting children in Indonesia to know a framework for future activities toward further characterization of microbiota profile contribution to stunting. METHODS: In this case–control study, we collected 96 samples with 48 stunting children and 48 non-stunting children in Pasaman and West Pasaman district as stunting locus areas in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. All study subjects met the inclusion criteria: Children ≤3 years of age and they did not suffer from gastrointestinal disorders. Samples collected were then carried out by intestinal bacterial DNA extraction. All sequences were obtained from the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, which was amplified from microbial DNA extracted from a child fecal sample. Bioinformatic analysis of microbiota DNA sequencing results compared with the intestinal microbiota profile of infants. RESULTS: This study found in intestinal of stunting children identified 61 species of bacteria which were only found in the intestines of stunting children and not found in non-stunting children. The dominant bacteria in intestinal microbiota profile of Pasaman and West Pasaman district, West Sumatera Province, Indonesia, among stunting children were Firmicutes (47.52%), Proteobacteria (21.12%), and Bacteroidetes (16.15%). The high number of these microbiota associated with high amount of carbohydrate intake among stunting children than dietary protein. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed the role of microbiota profile in the incidence of stunting children.