Microbiota profile of new-onset celiac disease in children in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Intestinal dysbiosis has been reported to be associated with celiac disease (CeD) in Western populations but little is known in other populations who have different dietary lifestyle and genetic background. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a different microbiota profile is associated with CeD in children in Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: Forty children with CeD, 20 healthy controls, and 19 non-CeD controls were enrolled. The median age at diagnosis was 10.3, 11.3 and 10.6 years in children with CeD, fecal, and mucosal control groups, respectively. Significant differences in microbial composition between children with CeD and controls both at fecal and mucosal level were identified. Fecal samples were more diverse and richer in bacteria as compared with mucosal samples. Proteobacteria were more abundant in duodenal mucosal samples and Firmicutes and Bacteroides were more abundant in stools. The abundance of many taxa was significantly different between children with CeD and non-CeD controls. In mucosal samples, Bifidobacterium angulatum (unadjusted p = 0.006) and Roseburia intestinalis (unadjusted p = 0.031) were examples of most significantly increased species in children with CeD and non-CeD controls, respectively. In fecal samples, there were 169 bacterial species with significantly different abundance between children with CeD and non- CeD controls. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report on the microbial profile in a non-Western population of children with new onset CeD. The fact that mucosal and fecal samples were collected from newly diagnosed children with CeD on normal gluten-containing diet suggests strong association between the identified bacteria and CeD. The identification of many unreported bacterial species significantly associated with CeD, indicates the need for further studies from different populations to expand our understanding of the role of bacteria in the pathogenesis of CeD, hopefully leading to the discovery of new adjuvant treatment options.