The impact of regular sauerkraut consumption on the human gut microbiota: a crossover intervention trial

Study information

Needs review

study design

randomized controlled trial

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

39940045

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1186/s40168-024-02016-3

URI

Authors

Schropp N, Bauer A, Stanislas V, Huang KD, Lesker TR, Bielecka AA, Strowig T, Michels KB

Journal

Microbiome

Year

2025

Keywords:

Diversity, Fermented food, Gut microbiome, Pasteurization, SCFA, Sauerkraut, Short-chain fatty acids, Shotgun metagenomics

BACKGROUND: Sauerkraut is a fermented food that has been suspected to have a beneficial impact on the gut microbiome, but scientific evidence is sparse. In this crossover intervention trial with 87 participants (DRKS00027007), we investigated the impact of daily consumption of fresh or pasteurized sauerkraut for 4 weeks on gut microbial composition and the metabolome in a healthy study population. RESULTS: Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, we observed changes in single bacterial species following fresh and pasteurized sauerkraut consumption. More pronounced changes were observed in the pasteurized sauerkraut intervention arm. Only pasteurized sauerkraut consumption increased serum short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). CONCLUSIONS: The gut microbiome of healthy individuals is rather resilient to short-term dietary interventions even though single species might be affected by sauerkraut consumption. Video Abstract.

Experiment 1

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Subjects

Location of subjects: Germany

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: Health study participation health questionnaire participation,health survey participation,Health study participation,health study participation

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Group A: Before Fresh Sauerkraut Intervention

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Group A: Post Fresh Sauerkraut Intervention

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Similar Participants after intervention with fresh Sauerkraut

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 41

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 41

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 3 months

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: WMS

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: Not specified

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Illumina

Statistical Analysis

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

Statistical test: Linear Regression

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)?: Yes

Confounders controlled for Confounding factors that have been accounted for by stratification or model adjustment: age, body mass index, diet, sex

Alpha Diversity

Pielou Quantifies how equal the community is numerically: unchanged

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

Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa: unchanged

Richness Number of species: unchanged

Signature 1

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Source: Figure 4, Supplementary Fig. S11

Description: Species with significant effects following fresh sauerkraut intervention.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Group A: Post Fresh Sauerkraut Intervention

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Lacticaseibacillus paracasei
Phocaeicola dorei

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Experiment 2

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Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Group A: Before Pasteurized Sauerkraut Intervention

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Group A: Post Pasteurized Sauerkraut Intervention

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Similar Participants after intervention with pasteurized Sauerkraut.

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 46

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 46

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: Not specified

Alpha Diversity

Pielou Quantifies how equal the community is numerically: unchanged

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

Inverse Simpson Modification of Simpsons index D as 1/D to obtain high values in datasets of high diversity and vice versa: unchanged

Richness Number of species: unchanged

Signature 1

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Source: Figure 4A, Supplementary Fig. S11

Description: Species with significant effects following pasteurized sauerkraut intervention.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Group A: Post Pasteurized Sauerkraut Intervention

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Anaerobutyricum hallii
Anaerostipes hadrus
Blautia faecis

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Signature 2

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Source: Figure 4A

Description: Species with significant effects following pasteurized sauerkraut intervention.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Group A: Post Pasteurized Sauerkraut Intervention

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Blautia obeum

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