Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41339319›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Indigenous infants in remote Australia retain an ancestral gut microbiome despite encroaching Westernization.

Leonard C Harrison, Theo R Allnutt, Sarah Hanieh, Alexandra J Roth-Schulze, Katrina M Ngui, Natalie L Stone, Esther Bandala-Sanchez, Lilly Backshell, George Gurruwiwi, Veronica Gondarra and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Leonard C Harrison *Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia. harrison@wehi.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2500-8944
Theo R Allnutt *Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-0058
Sarah HaniehDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Alexandra J Roth-SchulzeWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Katrina M NguiWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Natalie L StoneWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Esther Bandala-SanchezWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Lilly BackshellWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
George GurruwiwiDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Veronica GondarraDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Jennifer J CouperRobinson Research Institute, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Maria E CraigDiscipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6004-576X
Elizabeth A DavisChildren's Diabetes Centre, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4244-5473
Tony HuynhDepartment of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Georgia SoldatosMonash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
John M WentworthWalter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5197-3529
Peter VuillerminFaculty of Health, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6580-0346
Megan A S PennoWomen's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9617-0826
Beverley-Ann BiggsDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2961-9793
ENDIA Study Group Consortium

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Studies of traditional Indigenous compared to 'Western' gut microbiomes are underrepresented, and lacking in young children, limiting knowledge of early-life microbiomes in different cultural contexts. Here we analyze the gut metagenomes of 50 Indigenous Australian infants (median age <one year) living remotely with variable access to Western foods, compared to age- and sex-matched non-Indigenous infants living in urban Australia. Indigenous infants had greater alpha diversity and significant differences in bacterial beta diversity, with 114 species and 38 genera differing in abundance. Indigenous infants almost exclusively had higher carriage of Megaspaera, Streptococcus, Caecibacter, Parolsenella and Prevotella species, and markedly higher numbers of gut viruses and fungi. Bifidobacteria ssp. were dominant in Indigenous infants. Despite encroaching Westernisation, the gut microbiome of Indigenous infants retains key features of traditional societies worldwide, attesting to the dominant influence of remote environment and traditional lifestyle in maintaining microbiome diversity.

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal MicrobiomeAustraliaBacteriaFecesFemaleHumansIndigenous PeoplesInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMetagenome

Identifiers

PMID41339319
PMCPMC12675544

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.