ArticleScience (New York, N.Y.)2013
Gut microbiomes of Malawian twin pairs discordant for kwashiorkor.
Article in Science (New York, N.Y.), 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 5 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 626 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Randomised Placebo-controlled Study of Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) to Impact Body Weight and Glycemic Control in Obese Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Tolerability and Risk of Adverse Events With a Probiotic Supplement: A Randomised and Placebo Controlled Study in Healthy Individuals
An Open-label Pilot Study of Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) to Induce Weight Loss in Obese Subjects
The Underlying Causes Affecting the Response to Dietary Rehabilitation in Severely Acutely Malnourished Children at the Center Hôspitalier Universitaire Sourô Sanou, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
Early Life Diarrhoea Episode(s), Malnutrition, Environmental Enteric Dysfunction and Microbiome Trajectories From Birth Until 3 Years of Life ; The University of Zimbabwe Birth Cohort Study-2 (UZBCS-2)
Who cites it
626 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A meta-analysis of infant gut viromes reveals global patterns in bacteriophage community assembly and functional capacity over the first three years of life.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- The microbiota-gut-brain-epigenome axis as a novel therapeutic target for decoding postpartum depression.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review of associations between gut microbiome composition and stunting in under-five children.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2024Pooled it
- Roles of the gut microbiome in weight management.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023Pooled it
- Body mass index and risk of clostridioides difficile infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Infection · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review on the role of microbiota in the pathogenesis and treatment of eating disorders.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2020Pooled it
- Faecal microbiota of schoolchildren is associated with nutritional status and markers of inflammation: a double-blinded cluster-randomized controlled trial using multi-micronutrient fortified rice.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Effects of probiotic and synbiotic supplementation on ponderal and linear growth in severely malnourished young infants in a randomized clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Gut Microbiome among Children with Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Azithromycin versus Amoxicillin.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Micronutrient supplements can promote disruptive protozoan and fungal communities in the developing infant gut.Nature communications · 2021Trial
- Gut Bacterial Diversity and Growth among Preschool Children in Burkina Faso.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Trial
- Metabolome and microbiome alterations related to short-term feeding of a micronutrient-fortified, high-quality legume protein-based food product to stunted school age children: A randomized controlled pilot trial.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2020Trial
- The putative role of the microbiota in the development of neuropsychiatric disorders following early childhood malnutrition.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Microbial shifts in early life: the pediatric gut microbiome and its role in health and disease.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Recent advances and clinical relevance of microbiome dynamics in health and disease.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Towards optimizing the host response to biotics: a report of an International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics working group.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Antibiotic overuse as a modifiable early-life risk factor for non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.Global health action · 2026Article
- Aberrant one-carbon metabolism and ancestral genetics underlie edematous severe acute malnutrition.Nature communications · 2026Article
566 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Kwashiorkor, an enigmatic form of severe acute malnutrition, is the consequence of inadequate nutrient intake plus additional environmental insults. To investigate the role of the gut microbiome, we studied 317 Malawian twin pairs during the first 3 years of life. During this time, half of the twin pairs remained well nourished, whereas 43% became discordant, and 7% manifested concordance for acute malnutrition. Both children in twin pairs discordant for kwashiorkor were treated with a peanut-based, ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). Time-series metagenomic studies revealed that RUTF produced a transient maturation of metabolic functions in kwashiorkor gut microbiomes that regressed when administration of RUTF was stopped. Previously frozen fecal communities from several discordant pairs were each transplanted into gnotobiotic mice. The combination of Malawian diet and kwashiorkor microbiome produced marked weight loss in recipient mice, accompanied by perturbations in amino acid, carbohydrate, and intermediary metabolism that were only transiently ameliorated with RUTF. These findings implicate the gut microbiome as a causal factor in kwashiorkor.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.