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


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