Age-Related Microbial Differences in Newly Diagnosed Crohn’s Disease Reveal the Distinct Enrichment of Oral-Associated Taxa in Pediatric Patients

Background/Aims: Crohn's disease (CD) presents differently by age of onset, but the microbial distinctions between pediatric and adult CD are currently unclear. Methods: In this study, the gut microbiota of fecal samples collected from newly diagnosed patients with CD (n=88; pediatric 44, adult 44) and their age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs, n=112) was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Differential abundance analysis was performed using MaAsLin2 to identify age-specific microbial signatures, and enterotypes were classified using Dirichlet multinomial mixture modeling. Results: (false discovery rate <0.1). Conclusions: In newly diagnosed patients, CD is characterized by shared dysbiosis and convergence toward a disease-specific enterotype across age groups. However, this was accompanied by distinct microbial features, specifically, the enrichment of taxa previously reported as prevalent in the oral microbiome in children versus resident pathobionts in adults. These findings suggest that age at disease onset is associated with age-stratified differences in microbial profiles in CD.

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Publication Details

Journal
Gut and Liver
Published
2026-06-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5009/gnl260027
Primary Topic
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Age-Related Microbial Differences in Newly Diagnosed Crohn’s Disease Reveal the Distinct Enrichment of Oral-Associated Taxa in Pediatric Patients

Ben Kang, Byung‐Ho Choe, Jeongkuk Seo, Bo‐Hyung Kim et al.
Gut and Liver
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
article

Age-Related Microbial Differences in Newly Diagnosed Crohn’s Disease Reveal the Distinct Enrichment of Oral-Associated Taxa in Pediatric Patients

Ben Kang, Byung‐Ho Choe, Jeongkuk Seo, Bo‐Hyung Kim, Jin‐Woo Bae, Jae‐Yun Lee, Chang Kyun Lee, Sung‐Vin Yim, Tae-woo Kim, Yoo Jin Lee, Hyun Sik Kim, Kyeong Ok Kim, Yong Eun Park, Yun-Seok Jeong
article en

Abstract

Background/Aims: Crohn's disease (CD) presents differently by age of onset, but the microbial distinctions between pediatric and adult CD are currently unclear. Methods: In this study, the gut microbiota of fecal samples collected from newly diagnosed patients with CD (n=88; pediatric 44, adult 44) and their age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs, n=112) was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Differential abundance analysis was performed using MaAsLin2 to identify age-specific microbial signatures, and enterotypes were classified using Dirichlet multinomial mixture modeling. Results: (false discovery rate <0.1). Conclusions: In newly diagnosed patients, CD is characterized by shared dysbiosis and convergence toward a disease-specific enterotype across age groups. However, this was accompanied by distinct microbial features, specifically, the enrichment of taxa previously reported as prevalent in the oral microbiome in children versus resident pathobionts in adults. These findings suggest that age at disease onset is associated with age-stratified differences in microbial profiles in CD.

Gut and Liver
Kyungpook National University (KR), Kyung Hee University (KR), Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital (KR), Kangbuk Samsung Hospital (KR), Yeungnam University College, Keimyung University (KR), Yeungnam University (KR), Chung-Ang University (KR), Sungkyunkwan University (KR)
Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea Health Industry Development Institute
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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