Infant Nasopharyngeal Microbiota Subphenotypes and Early Childhood Lung Function: Evidence from a Rural Ghanaian Pregnancy Cohort

Kathryn Dubowski, Seyram Kaali, Darby Jack, Rebecca Kyerewaa Dwommoh Prah, Jose C. Clemente, Theresa Tawiah, Mohammed Mujtaba, Louisa Iddrisu, Daniel Carrión, Dennis Gyasi Konadu, Oscar Agyei, Francis Mensah Kornu, Samuel Osei-Owusu, Alison G. Lee and Kwaku Poku Asante
Additional contact information
Kathryn Dubowski: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Seyram Kaali: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Darby Jack: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032, USA
Rebecca Kyerewaa Dwommoh Prah: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Jose C. Clemente: Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Theresa Tawiah: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Mohammed Mujtaba: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Louisa Iddrisu: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Daniel Carrión: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Dennis Gyasi Konadu: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Oscar Agyei: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Francis Mensah Kornu: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Samuel Osei-Owusu: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana
Alison G. Lee: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Kwaku Poku Asante: Kintampo Health Research Centre, Kintampo 00233, Ghana

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-11

Abstract: Early life respiratory microbiota may increase risk for future pulmonary disease. Associations between respiratory microbiota and lung health in children from low- and middle-income countries are not well-described. Leveraging the Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS) prospective pregnancy cohort in Kintampo, Ghana, we collected nasopharyngeal swabs in 112 asymptomatic children aged median 4.3 months (interquartile range (IQR) 2.9, 7.1) and analyzed 22 common bacterial and viral pathogens with MassTag polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We prospectively followed the cohort and measured lung function at age four years by impulse oscillometry. First, we employed latent class analysis (LCA) to identify nasopharyngeal microbiota (NPM) subphenotypes. Then, we used linear regression to analyze associations between subphenotype assignment and lung function. LCA suggest that a two-class model best described the infant NPM. We identified a higher diversity subphenotype (N = 38, 34%) with more pathogens (median 4; IQR 3.25, 4.75) and a lower diversity subphenotype (N = 74, 66%) with fewer pathogens (median 1; IQR 1, 2). In multivariable linear regression models, the less diverse NPM subphenotype had higher small airway resistance (R5-R20 ? = 17.9%, 95% CI 35.6, 0.23; p = 0.047) compared with the more diverse subphenotype. Further studies are required to understand the role of the microbiota in future lung health.

Keywords: nasopharyngeal microbiota; impulse oscillometry; global health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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