Regional distribution of Christensenellaceae and its associations with metabolic syndrome based on a population-level analysis

Abstract

The link between the gut microbiota and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has attracted widespread attention. Christensenellaceae was recently described as an important player in human health, while its distribution and relationship with MetS in Chinese population is still unknown. This study sought to observe the association between Christensenellaceae and metabolic indexes in a large sample of residents in South China. A total of 4,781 people from the GGMP project were included, and the fecal microbiota composition of these individuals was characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing and analyzed the relation between Christensenellaceae and metabolism using QIIME (Quantitative Insight Into Microbial Ecology, Version 1.9.1). The results demonstrated that microbial richness and diversity were increased in the group with a high abundance of Christensenellaceae, who showed a greater complexity of the co-occurrence network with other bacteria than residents who lacked Christensenellaceae. The enriched bacterial taxa were predominantly represented by Oscillospira, Ruminococcaceae, RF39, Rikenellaceae and Akkermansia as the Christensenellaceae abundance increased, while the abundances of Veillonella, Fusobacterium and Klebsiella were significantly reduced. Furthermore, Christensenellaceae was negatively correlated with the pathological features of MetS, such as obesity, hypertriglyceridemia and body mass index (BMI). We found reduced levels of lipid biosynthesis and energy metabolism pathways in people with a high abundance of Christensenellaceae, which may explain the negative relationship between body weight and Christensenellaceae. In conclusion, we found a negative correlation between Christensenellaceae and MetS in a large Chinese population and reported the geographical distribution of Christensenellaceae in the GGMP study. The association data from this population-level research support the investigation of strains within Christensenellaceae as potentially beneficial gut microbes.

Cecum microbiota in rats fed soy, milk, meat, fish, and egg proteins with prebiotic oligosaccharides

“…The increased abundance of Akkermansiaceae may be considered a health-associated change after meat protein consumption because the level of Akkermansia muciniphila was shown to be positively correlated with the parameters involved in fatty acid oxidation and inversely associated with inflammatory markers and intestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease [20] , [21] . Furthermore, the abundance of Christensenellaceae negatively correlated with the pathological features of obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and body mass index [22] , and Akkermansiaceae and Christensenellaceae were both found to be the taxa of increasing abundance in the gut of centenarians [23] , [24] . In contrast, the abundance of Erysipelotrichaceae was shown to be positively linked to lipidemic imbalance and hypercholesterolemia and reported to be increased in patients with colorectal cancer [25] .…”

A New Strain of Christensenella minuta as a Potential Biotherapy for Obesity and Associated Metabolic Diseases

“…C. minuta are sub-dominant Clostridiales species naturally present in the human gut of healthy individuals [ 28 ]. Because of their low abundance ranging from circa 0.2 to 2% of the gut microbiome, they tend to be overlooked in epidemiological studies, although a recent article established their prevalence to be around 50% in a Chinese cohort [ 6 ]. Nevertheless, the association between C. minuta and health has been largely documented [ 28 ].…”

“…In humans, Christensenellaceae have been repeatedly associated with leanness in many observational population studies [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. In addition, it has been shown that Christensenellaceae bacteria considerably increase during weight loss, suggesting a close relationship between the presence of these bacteria in the gut ecosystem and the regulation of energy metabolism [ 7 ].…”

“…In observational studies, beyond their association with leanness, Christensenellaceae have been reported as strongly anticorrelated with relevant clinical markers such as circulating LDL levels [ 5 , 14 ], hypertriglyceridemia [ 5 , 6 ], elevated blood pressure [ 15 , 16 ], and circulating alanine transferase (ALT) levels, a marker of hepatic function [ 6 ]. As a dysbiosis of the gut microbiome has been suggested as a causal factor of metabolic disorders associated with obesity [ 17 ], these observations may be indicative of a key role played by bacteria of the Christensenellaceae family in regulating energy balance and metabolic homeostasis.…”

Gut Microbiota Markers for Antipsychotics Induced Metabolic Disturbance in Drug Naïve Patients with First Episode Schizophrenia – A 24 Weeks Follow-up Study

“…Furthermore, we found that a low fecal abundance of family Christensenellaceae at baseline may contribute to a high triglyceride or BMI after 24-week risperidone treatment for SZ. Despite that these associations cannot provide for causal pathophysiology; it has been suggested that abnormal Christensenellaceae may influence the lipid metabolism after risperidone treatment in patients[32].…”