Serum level of sex steroid hormone is associated with diversity and profiles of human gut microbiome

Study information

Needs review

study design

cross-sectional observational, not case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

30940469

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1016/j.resmic.2019.03.003

URI Uniform resource identifier for web resources.

Authors

Shin J.H., Park Y.H., Sim M., Kim S.A., Joung H., Shin D.M.

Journal

Research in microbiology

Year

2019

Keywords:

Estradiol, Gut microbiota, Sex differences, Sex steroid hormone, Testosterone

Gut microbiota plays roles in host physiology including endocrine function. Although some data suggest a potential connection between biological sex differences and gut microbiota, the connection between sex steroid hormones and gut microbes remained unexplored. The current study investigates the relationship between gut microbes and serum levels of testosterone in men and estradiol in women. Fecal microbiota from a total of 57 men (n = 31) and women (n = 26) were assessed using 16s rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the levels of serum testosterone and estradiol in men and women, respectively, participants were stratified into three groups of Low, Medium, and High. Microbiome communities were analyzed as a function of the steroid hormone within sex. Men and women in the High group harbored more diverse gut microbial communities than others. In men, the abundance of Acinetobacter, Dorea, Ruminococcus, and Megamonas correlated significantly with testosterone levels. Women in the High group have more Bacteroidetes and less Firmicutes phyla than those in the Low group. Genera Slackia and Butyricimonas were significantly correlated with estradiol levels. These results demonstrate that sex steroid hormone levels are correlated with diversity and gut microbial composition, and provide fundamental information helpful for developing communication networks between human and microbial communities.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2025/10/11

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Subjects

Location of subjects: Republic of Korea

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Testosterone measurement testosterone level,testosterone levels,Testosterone measurement,testosterone measurement

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Low testosterone group of men

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: High testosterone group of men

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Men with high levels of serum testosterone concentration

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 10

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 10

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 6 months

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V1-V2

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Ion Torrent

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances

Statistical test: Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon)

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.1

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: No

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: unchanged

Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness: unchanged

Simpson Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species evenness: unchanged

Signature 1

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Curated date: 2025/10/11

Curator: Tosin

Revision editor(s): Tosin

Source: Figure 3B

Description: Significant abundant taxa between low and high testosterone groups of men

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in High testosterone group of men

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Acinetobacter
Dorea
Megamonas
Ruminococcus

Revision editor(s): Tosin

Experiment 2

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Curated date: 2025/10/11

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Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Estradiol measurement estradiol levels,oestrogen level,oestrogen levels,Estradiol measurement,estradiol measurement

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Low estradiol group of women

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: High estradiol group of women

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Women with low levels of serum estradiol concentration