Depicting the composition of gut microbiota in a population with varied ethnic origins but shared geography

Abstract

Trillions of microorganisms inhabit the human gut and are regarded as potential key factors for health. Characteristics such as diet, lifestyle, or genetics can shape the composition of the gut microbiota and are usually shared by individuals from comparable ethnic origin. So far, most studies assessing how ethnicity relates to the intestinal microbiota compared small groups living at separate geographical locations. Using fecal 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing in 2,084 participants of the Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study, we show that individuals living in the same city tend to share similar gut microbiota characteristics with others of their ethnic background. Ethnicity contributed to explain the interindividual dissimilarities in gut microbiota composition, with three main poles primarily characterized by operational taxonomic units (OTUs) classified as Prevotella (Moroccans, Turks, Ghanaians), Bacteroides (African Surinamese, South-Asian Surinamese), and Clostridiales (Dutch). The Dutch exhibited the greatest gut microbiota α-diversity and the South-Asian Surinamese the smallest, with corresponding enrichment or depletion in numerous OTUs. Ethnic differences in α-diversity and interindividual dissimilarities were independent of metabolic health and only partly explained by ethnic-related characteristics including sociodemographic, lifestyle, or diet factors. Hence, the ethnic origin of individuals may be an important factor to consider in microbiome research and its potential future applications in ethnic-diverse societies.

Gut microbiome response to a modern Paleolithic diet in a Western lifestyle context

“…These data confirm recent findings that demonstrate the predominance of host location and ethnicity, with respect to diet, as determinants of human GM variation [14,15]. However, despite the overall Western-like configuration, the MPD-associated GM structure stands out from that of Italians adhering to the MD for a much higher degree of biodiversity, which well approximates that observed in traditional hunter-gatherers.…”

“…These data confirm recent findings that demonstrate the predominance of host location and ethnicity, with respect to diet, as determinants of human GM variation. 14, 15 However, despite the overall Western-like configuration, the MPD-associated GM structure stands out from that of Italians adhering to the MD for a much higher degree of biodiversity, which well approximates that observed in traditional hunter-gatherers. Since the Italian subjects of our cohort share the provenance and all that it entails, including the lifestyle, it can be hypothesized that the MPD-associated bloom in GM diversity is accounted for by the peculiarities of the MPD compared to the MD.…”

“…Notwithstanding the small sample size, our GM exploratory study gave us the unique opportunity to assess to what extent the consumption of high amounts of MACs along with the exclusion of industrially processed food, may counteract the GM diversity reduction as observed in Western urban populations. Indeed, the comparison between MPD and Western diets in subjects living in the same country allows excluding the impact of confounding drivers of GM variation, such as geography, ethnicity, medication, hygiene and subsistence [14,15,21]. In order to extend the GM comparison at the meta-population level, we expanded our meta-analysis by including publically available microbiome data from traditional hunting and gathering populations showing high GM diversity, such as the Hadza from Tanzania, from our previous publication [5], the Matses from Peru [6], and the Inuit from the Canadian Arctic [22].…”

A multi-omic cohort as a reference point for promoting a healthy human gut microbiome

“…The gut microbiome has been implicated in a growing list of complex diseases, showing great potential for the diagnosis and treatment of metabolic, autoimmune and neurological diseases as well as cancer. While case-control studies have been illuminating 1 , recently published studies have emphasized difficulty in extrapolating to natural cohorts due to heterogeneity in location and ethnicity 2 ’ 3 . So far only a few cohorts made use of metagenomic shotgun sequencing instead of 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, the largest being the LifeLines Deep cohort (n=1,135, 32 million reads per sample) from the Netherlands 4–7 Fecal or plasma metabolites are more or less included in gut microbiome studies, but the conclusions usually did not go beyond short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), amino acids, vitamin B complex or bile acids.…”

Association of the gut microbiota with colorectal cancer in a South Asian cohort of patients

“…These vast differences in the diet are likely to influence the 72 microbial composition and thus protect or predispose to the development of CRC. In fact, is has 73 been shown that the gut microbiome is significantly different in individuals of different ethnicity, 74 living in the same geographical area [15]. Since dietary factors are likely to directly contribute to 75 the microbial composition and thus to the risk of developing CRC, change in the dietary patterns 76 can be an important strategy in the prevention and treatment of CRC [16].…”