Extreme Starvation Affects Gut Bacteria: Study

Severe undernourishment can cause an imbalance in gut bacteria needed for further growth and revival in the body, according to a study.

Nutrition therapy can restore essential nutrients in the body of children who suffer extreme starvation in situations like war, famine and natural calamities. Yet, many children do not completely recover or grow even after being fed high-caloric survival food. Experts from the Washington University believe this may be because of major alterations in the intestinal microbes after prolonged periods of food deprivation and malnutrition. The research team investigated gut microbes in healthy children living in Mirpur slum in Bangladesh and 64 of those who were under nutrition therapy for severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

The undernourished children were fed therapeutic foods which were mostly peanuts or rice and lentil ground in to a paste to nurse them back to health. It was found that gut bacteria found in fecal samples were underdeveloped for their age thus leading to stunted growth, underweight and poor health in these children. The scientists also observed the bacterial functioning resumed to its immature state within four months upon discontinuation of nutritive food.

"We now have a hypothesis to pursue, which is that healthy growth of children is not fully achievable unless there is proper maturation of this microbial community, and the current treatments are not sufficient to produce an enduring repair," said Jeffrey Gordon, study co-author and researcher at the Centre for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology at Washington University in St Louis,  in a news release.

Several bacteria in the gut are needed for digesting food, developing resistance for infections and improving overall health. Malnourishment in early life affects gut bacteria that may never bounce back to its normal state even after the intake of sufficient food. The findings of the current research aid identification of treatments that can work for longer durations in children aged below five who are "at extreme risk of dying". They authors believe the new treatments must involve probiotics that are digestion friendly and vital for the body.

More information is available online in the journal Nature.