Human microbiota research in Africa: a systematic review reveals gaps and priorities for future research

Microbiome

Nicola M. Mulder¹  Imane Allali²  Lehana Thabane³  Heather J. Zar⁴  Lemese Ah. Tow⁵  Regina E. Abotsi⁶  Mark P. Nicol⁷ 

[1] Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Laboratory of Human Pathologies Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, and Genomic Centre of Human Pathologies, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Rabat, Morocco;Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Biostatistics Unit, Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre, St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Departments of Paediatrics and Anaesthesia, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Centre for Evaluation of Medicine, St Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa;Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa;MRC Unit on Child & Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, School of Pharmacy, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana;Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, M504, 6009, Perth, WA, Australia;

关键词: Microbiome;    Next-generation sequencing;    Systematic review;    16S rRNA sequencing;    Metagenomics;    Public health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40168-021-01195-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe role of the human microbiome in health and disease is an emerging and important area of research; however, there is a concern that African populations are under-represented in human microbiome studies. We, therefore, conducted a systematic survey of African human microbiome studies to provide an overview and identify research gaps. Our secondary objectives were: (i) to determine the number of peer-reviewed publications; (ii) to identify the extent to which the researches focused on diseases identified by the World Health Organization [WHO] State of Health in the African Region Report as being the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in 2018; (iii) to describe the extent and pattern of collaborations between researchers in Africa and the rest of the world; and (iv) to identify leadership and funders of the studies.MethodologyWe systematically searched Medline via PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Academic Search Premier, Africa-Wide Information through EBSCOhost, and Web of Science from inception through to 1st April 2020. We included studies that characterized samples from African populations using next-generation sequencing approaches. Two reviewers independently conducted the literature search, title and abstract, and full-text screening, as well as data extraction.ResultsWe included 168 studies out of 5515 records retrieved. Most studies were published in PLoS One (13%; 22/168), and samples were collected from 33 of the 54 African countries. The country where most studies were conducted was South Africa (27/168), followed by Kenya (23/168) and Uganda (18/168). 26.8% (45/168) focused on diseases of significant public health concern in Africa. Collaboration between scientists from the United States of America and Africa was most common (96/168). The first and/or last authors of 79.8% of studies were not affiliated with institutions in Africa. Major funders were the United States of America National Institutes of Health (45.2%; 76/168), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (17.8%; 30/168), and the European Union (11.9%; 20/168).ConclusionsThere are significant gaps in microbiome research in Africa, especially those focusing on diseases of public health importance. There is a need for local leadership, capacity building, intra-continental collaboration, and national government investment in microbiome research within Africa.-p-9t9CgT8xQHC5cjmG_wiVideo Abstract

【 授权许可】

CC BY