Identification of the Intestinal Microbes Associated with Locomotion

Abstract

Given the impact of the gut microbiome on human physiology and aging, it is possible that the gut microbiome may affect locomotion in the same way as the host’s own genes. There is not yet any direct evidence linking the gut microbiome to locomotion, though there are some potential connections, such as regular physical activity and the immune system. In this study, we demonstrate that the gut microbiome can contribute differently to locomotion. We remodeled the original gut microbiome of mice through fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) using human feces and compared the changes in locomotion of the same mice before and three months after FMT. We found that FMT affected locomotion in three different ways: positive, none (the same), and negative. Analysis of the phylogenesis, α-diversities, and β-diversities of the gut microbiome in the three groups showed that a more diverse group of intestinal microbes was established after FMT in each of the three groups, indicating that the human gut microbiome is more diverse than that of mice. The FMT-remodeled gut microbiome in each group was also different from each other. Fold change and linear correlation analyses identified Lacrimispora indolis, Pseudoflavonifractor phocaeensis, and Alistipes senegalensis in the gut microbiome as positive contributors to locomotion, while Sphingobacterium cibi, Prevotellamassilia timonensis, Parasutterella excrementihominis, Faecalibaculum rodentium, and Muribaculum intestinale were found to have negative effects. This study not only confirms the presence of gut microbiomes that contribute differently to locomotion, but also explains the mixed results in research on the association between the gut microbiome and locomotion.

Identification of Muscle Strength-Related Gut Microbes through Human Fecal Microbiome Transplantation

“…The optimized media for collecting human fecal samples were prepared as previously described [ 49 ]. To collect diverse human gut microorganisms, fecal samples from 10 healthy volunteers were collected and mixed in the optimized media.…”

“…Blood glucose levels were measured using a portable blood glucose meter (Accu-Chek Active; Roche Diagnostic GmbH, Mannheim, Germany). Total cholesterol (TCHO), triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-CHO) levels in mice serum were measured enzymatically using commercial assay kits (Asan Pharmaceutical Co., Seoul, Republic of Korea), as previously described [ 49 ]. Additionally, the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CHO) levels were calculated using the Friedewald’s equation [(LDL-CHO) = (TCHO) − ((HDL-CHO) − (TG)/5)].…”

“…The histological analysis was performed as described previously [ 49 ]. In brief, at the end of the experiment, muscle tissues were prepared from mice, fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin.…”

Extraction Methods Determine the Quality of Soil Microbiota Acquisition

“…One of the most useful microbiome transplants is fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) [ 5 ]. FMT has been used to treat a variety of human diseases, such as infectious diseases [ 6 , 7 ], inflammatory bowel diseases [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], oncological diseases [ 13 ], hematological diseases [ 14 , 15 ], and neurodegenerative diseases [ 16 ]. Additionally, microbes make an enormous contribution to environmental governance and can also assist in the elimination of pollutants from hyperthermal, acidic, hypersaline, or basic industrial waste [ 17 , 18 ].…”