The Bacterial Gut Microbiota of Schoolchildren from High and Low Socioeconomic Status: A Study in an Urban Area of Makassar, Indonesia

To understand the relationship between the gut microbiota and the health profile of Indonesians, it is important to elucidate the characteristics of the bacterial communities that prevail in this population. To this end, we profiled the faecal bacterial community of 140 Indonesian schoolchildren in urban Makassar. The core microbiota of Indonesian schoolchildren consisted of Bifidobacterium, Collinsella, and multiple members of the Lachnospiraceae and Ruminicoccaceae families, but the relative abundance of these taxa varied greatly among children. Socioeconomic status (SES) was the main driver for differences in microbiota composition. Multiple bacterial genera were differentially abundant between high and low SES children, including Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Prevotella, and Escherichia-Shigella. In addition, the microbiota of high SES children was less diverse and strongly associated with body mass index (BMI). In low SES children, helminth infection was prevalent and positively associated with Olsenella, Enterohabdus, Lactobacillus, and Mogibacterium abundance, while negatively associated with relative abundance of Prevotella. Protozoa infection was also prevalent, and positively associated with Rikenellaceae, while it was negatively associated with the relative abundance of Romboutsia and Prevotella. In conclusion, Indonesian schoolchildren living in urban Makassar share a core microbiota, but their microbiota varies in diversity and relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa depending on socioeconomic status, nutritional status, and intestinal parasites infection.