Selective Bacteroidota Depletion but Not Global Microbiome Differences in Short Bowel Syndrome on Fiber-Free Enteral Nutrition

In a baseline stool metagenomic comparison of 10 pediatric short bowel syndrome patients versus 13 non-SBS controls on fiber-free enteral nutrition, Bacteroidota is depleted in SBS.

• Why it matters: Intestinal dysbiosis in pediatric SBS is linked to poor growth, but it is unclear whether PN dependence and remnant anatomy or diet-related exposures drive the microbiome changes.
• What they did: The GREENBEANS study analyzed baseline stool shotgun metagenomic profiles, finding no significant differences in alpha diversity and only minimal/modest beta-diversity separation by Bray-Curtis and Jaccard distances.
• The result: Differential abundance showed Bacteroidota depletion in SBS, while SBS versus control on fiber-free enteral nutrition had only a small global microbiome difference, implying diet may predominate over anatomy.

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