Hirschsprungandrsquo;s Disease and the Intestinal Microbiome

Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis (HAEC) is the most common and serious complications of Hirschsprung's disease (HD), having mortality rate of 1-10%. Despite many proposed etiologies, the pathological mechanisms underlying HAEC are still unclear. The specific bacterial or viral infections are among the key factors to consider. The study of HAEC related intestinal flora was limited by the fact that 85% of intestinal microbiota cannot be cultured. The developments of modern next generation sequencing platforms and metagenomics methodology allowed to study and characterize the intestinal microbiota in infants with Hirschsprung’s disease with a great precision. This article reviews the progress in study of Hirschsprung’s disease and intestinal microbiota in patients with and without enterocolitis.