Fecal Microbiota, Lactic Acid and Short Chain Fatty Levels of Infants Following Rotavirus Infection Revealed by Illumina Miseq High-Throughput Sequencing and HPLC Method

Background: Rotavirus (RV) is one of the major causes of acute gastroenteritis in infants. It is indispensable to demonstrate the relationship between the diversity and richness of gut microbiota and RV infection using more accurate and effective technology. Objectives: To investigate the differences in fecal microbiota, lactic acid, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels between rotaviral-induced diarrhea (RD) infants and healthy (H) infants. Methods: The infants comprised of 25 infants aged few days to six months, who were in good health (n = 12) or diagnosed with rotavirus (n = 13). Fecal matter was analyzed with Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing technique targeting the 16s rRNA gene V3-V4 region. Lactic acids and SCFAs were measured by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. Results: Compared to H infants, the fecal samples in RD infants had lower Shannon diversity index and the bacteria richness (P < 0.05). A higher proportion of Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae and Klebsiella, and lower abundances of Actinobacteria and Knoellia (P < 0.05) were detected in fecal samples of RD infants. The total SCFAs content of fecal samples showed no distinction between RD and H infants, yet lower levels of lactic acid were observed in fecal samples of RD infants. Conclusions: Rotaviral infection in infants led to an alteration of fecal microbiota and lactic acid concentration compared with healthy infants. Fecal microbiota and metabolite may advance the understanding and treatment of RD.