Stability in fecal metabolites amid a diverse gut microbiome composition: a one-month longitudinal study of variability in healthy individuals
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: An extensive network of microbial-host interactions exists in the gut, making the gut microbiome a complex ecosystem to untangle. The microbial composition and the fecal metabolites are important readouts to investigate intricate microbiota-diet-host interplay. However, this ecosystem is dynamic, and it is of interest to understand the degree and timescale of changes occurring in the gut microbiota, during disease as well as in healthy individuals. Cross-sectional study design is often used to investigate the microbiome, but this design provides a static snapshot and cannot provide evidence on the dynamic nature of the gut microbiome. Longitudinal studies are better suited to extrapolate causation in a study or assess changes over time. This study investigates longitudinal change in the gut microbiome and fecal metabolites in 14 healthy individuals with weekly sampling over a period of one-month (four time points), to elucidate the temporal changes occurring in the gut microbiome composition and fecal metabolites. Utilizing 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing for microbiome analysis and NMR spectroscopy for fecal metabolite characterization, we assessed the stability of these two types of measurable parameters in fecal samples during the period of one month. Our results show that the gut microbiome display large variations between healthy individuals, but relatively lower within-individual variations, which makes it possible to uniquely identify individuals. The fecal metabolites showed higher stability over time compared to the microbiome and exhibited consistently smaller variations both within and between individuals. This relative higher stability of the fecal metabolites suggests a balanced, consistent output even amid individual's differences in microbial composition and they can provide a viable complementary readout to better understand the microbiome activity.
Source: Gut Microbes
Authors: Matteo Sangermani, Indri Desiati, Solveig M. Jørgensen, Jia V. Li, Trygve Andreassen, Tone F. Bathen, Guro F. Giskeødegård
Language: English
Topic: Gut microbiota and health
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,060
Funders: National Science Foundation, Kreftforeningen, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Helse Midt-Norge, St. Olavs Hospital Universitetssykehuset i Trondheim, Fakultet for medisin og helsevitenskap, Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Medical Research Council, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, H2020 European Research Council
Awards: G1366415604, G1601546954, Determining changes in the gut-microbiomes of breast cancer patients to assess treatment effects and post-treatment wellbeing, Research work in the field of anelastic properties of metals and alloys, G305379679, G3085646485, G3205191930, G3574980152, Investigating Host-Microbial Interactions after Bariatric Surgery
OpenAlex ID: W4404301286