Evidence for Differentiation of Colon Tissue Microbiota in Patients with and without Postoperative Hirschsprung's Associated Enterocolitis: A Pilot Study

PURPOSE: To investigate the differences in the colon microbiota composition of Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) patients with and without a history of postoperative Hirschsprung's associated enterocolitis (HAEC). METHODS: Colon tissue microbiota was characterized by bacterial deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction and 16S rDNA sequencing for taxonomic classification and comparison. RESULTS: The sequence diversity richness within samples was significantly higher in samples from patients with a history of postoperative HAEC. We observed an increased relative abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Cyanobacteria in HAEC patients and Fusobacteria, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in HSCR patients and, an increased relative abundance of the genera Dolosigranulum, Roseouria and Streptococcus in HAEC patients and Propionibacterium and Delftia in HSCR patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide evidence that the colon tissue microbiota composition is different in HSCR patients with and without postoperative HAEC.