Publication Date
2011
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Michael Markey (Committee Member), Oleg Paliy (Advisor), Nicholas Reo (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
The human-associated microbiota has been the focus of much current research, with the microbiota inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract of particular interest. These organisms play many roles in human health and well-being. However, shifts in the composition of the intestinal microbiota have been associated with diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and colon cancer. Several recent studies have reported on the distal gut microbiota composition of healthy adults and those with IBS, while there is a lack of studies devoted to adolescents. This study utilized a custom-designed Affymetrix Microbiota Array capable of detecting 775 phylo-species of intestinal bacteria to determine the composition of the distal gut microbiota of 22 adolescents suffering from IBS-D (diarrhea-predominant) and 22 healthy adolescents. High sample-to-sample variation was observed in both groups at genus level. While some differences were observed in mean relative abundance of several bacterial genera between IBS-D and healthy adolescents, including Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Veillonella, and Prevotella, these differences were not significant. Sample groups also failed to separate in PCA space. Therefore, we cannot conclude that the distal gut microbiota of adolescents with IBS-D is significantly different than that of healthy adolescents.
Page Count
63
Department or Program
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Year Degree Awarded
2011
Copyright
Copyright 2011, all rights reserved. This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.
