Evaluation of faecal microbiota in pediatric renal transplant patients

Renal transplantation can lead to changes in the intestinal microbial composition, along with many other problems it brings, and can cause various clinical issues resulting from these changes. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in gut microbiota, bacterial diversity, and richness between renal transplant children and healthy children. This cross-sectional, observational, single-center study included 30 renal transplant children aged 7 to 21 years and 25 healthy children with similar age and gender ratios. Patients with ongoing gastrointestinal infection during stool sample collection or using antibiotics or probiotics for any reason were not included in the study. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing technique was used to evaluate gut microbiota. There were no differences between the patient and control groups in terms of age, gender, and BMI-SDS. When bacterial diversity and numbers were evaluated in terms of alpha and beta diversity, there was no significant difference between the two groups. However, more detailed comparisons revealed a significantly higher abundance of Verrucomicrobiota and Proteobacteria at the phylum level in the transplant group. At the genus level, compared to the control group, an increase in some genera belonging to the phyla Verrucomicrobiota, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria was observed in the patient group. Our study is one of the rare studies in the literature examining changes in the gut microbiota of pediatric renal transplant patients. It is anticipated that such changes in gut microbiota could be the cause and/or result of many problems commonly observed in the clinic after kidney transplantation.