ArticleMicrobiome2024
Cluster-specific associations between the gut microbiota and behavioral outcomes in preschool-aged children.
Article in Microbiome, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gut microbiome composition and predicted functions relate to growth and behavior in a Japanese preschool cohort.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Gut Microbiome in Early Ontogeny: Implications for Brain and Immune System Development.Journal of developmental biology · 2026Review
- Characteristics of gut microbiota in children with language developmental delay.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Infectious diseases and childhood disruptive behavior disorders: a reappraisal.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Investigating the pathogenesis of urolithiasis through gut microbiome, plasma metabolome and inflammatory proteome: a mediation Mendelian randomization study.Clinical epigenetics · 2025Article
- Childhood gut microbiome is linked to internalizing symptoms at school age via the functional connectome.Nature communications · 2025Observational
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe gut microbiota is recognized as a regulator of brain development and behavioral outcomes during childhood. Nonetheless, associations between the gut microbiota and behavior are often inconsistent among studies in humans, perhaps because many host-microbe relationships vary widely between individuals. This study aims to stratify children based on their gut microbiota composition (i.e., clusters) and to identify novel gut microbiome cluster-specific associations between the stool metabolomic pathways and child behavioral outcomes.
methodsStool samples were collected from a community sample of 248 typically developing children (3-5 years). The gut microbiota was analyzed using 16S sequencing while LC-MS/MS was used for untargeted metabolomics. Parent-reported behavioral outcomes (i.e., Adaptive Skills, Internalizing, Externalizing, Behavioral Symptoms, Developmental Social Disorders) were assessed using the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-2). Children were grouped based on their gut microbiota composition using the Dirichlet multinomial method, after which differences in the metabolome and behavioral outcomes were investigated.
resultsFour different gut microbiota clusters were identified, where the cluster enriched in both Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium (Ba2) had the most distinct stool metabolome. The cluster characterized by high Bifidobacterium abundance (Bif), as well as cluster Ba2, were associated with lower Adaptive Skill scores and its subcomponent Social Skills. Cluster Ba2 also had significantly lower stool histidine to urocanate turnover, which in turn was associated with lower Social Skill scores in a cluster-dependent manner. Finally, cluster Ba2 had increased levels of compounds involved in Galactose metabolism (i.e., stachyose, raffinose, alpha-D-glucose), where alpha-D-glucose was associated with the Adaptive Skill subcomponent Daily Living scores (i.e., ability to perform basic everyday tasks) in a cluster-dependent manner.
conclusionsThese data show novel associations between the gut microbiota, its metabolites, and behavioral outcomes in typically developing preschool-aged children. Our results support the concept that cluster-based groupings could be used to develop more personalized interventions to support child behavioral outcomes. Video Abstract.
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