The East Asian gut microbiome is distinct from colocalized White subjects and connected to metabolic health

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-2-13

study design

cross-sectional observational, not case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

34617511

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.7554/eLife.70349

URI

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34617511

Authors

Ang QY, Alba DL, Upadhyay V, Bisanz JE, Cai J, Lee HL, Barajas E, Wei G, Noecker C, Patterson AD, Koliwad SK, Turnbaugh PJ

Journal

eLife

Year

2021

Keywords:

biogeography, ethnicity, human, human gut microbiome, infectious disease, metabolic syndrome, microbiology, mouse, multi-omics, obesity

East Asians (EAs) experience worse metabolic health outcomes compared to other ethnic groups at lower body mass indices; however, the potential role of the gut microbiota in contributing to these health disparities remains unknown. We conducted a multi-omic study of 46 lean and obese East Asian and White participants living in the San Francisco Bay Area, revealing marked differences between ethnic groups in bacterial richness and community structure. White individuals were enriched for the mucin-degrading Akkermansia muciniphila. East Asian subjects had increased levels of multiple bacterial phyla, fermentative pathways detected by metagenomics, and the short-chain fatty acid end-products acetate, propionate, and isobutyrate. Differences in the gut microbiota between the East Asian and White subjects could not be explained by dietary intake, were more pronounced in lean individuals, and were associated with current geographical location. Microbiome transplantations into germ-free mice demonstrated stable diet- and host genotype-independent differences between the gut microbiotas of East Asian and White individuals that differentially impact host body composition. Taken together, our findings add to the growing body of literature describing microbiome variations between ethnicities and provide a starting point for defining the mechanisms through which the microbiome may shape disparate health outcomes in East Asians. The community of microbes living in the human gut varies based on where a person lives, in part because of differences in diets but also due to factors still incompletely understood. In turn, this ‘microbiome’ may have wide-ranging effects on health and diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Many scientists want to understand how differences in the microbiome emerge between people, and whether this may explain why certain diseases are more common in specific populations. Self-identified race or ethnicity can be a useful tool in that effort, as it can serve as a proxy for cultural habits (such as diets) or genetic information. In the United States, self-identified East Asian Americans often have worse ‘metabolic health’ (e.g. levels of sugar or certain fat molecules in the blood) at a lower weight than those identifying as White. Ang, Alba, Upadhyay et al. investigated whether this health disparity was linked to variation in the gut microbiome. Samples were collected from 46 lean and obese individuals living in the San Francisco Bay Area who identified as White or East Asian. The analyses showed that while the gut microbiome of White participants changed in association with obesity, the microbiomes of East Asian participants were distinct from their White counterparts even at normal weight, with features mirroring what was seen in White individuals in the context of obesity. Although these differences were connected to people’s current address, they were not attributable to dietary differences. Ang, Alba, Upadhyay et al. then transplanted the microbiome of the participants into genetically identical mice with microbe-free guts. The differences between the gut microbiomes of White and East Asian participants persisted in recipient animals. When fed the same diet, the mice also gained different amounts of weight depending on the ethnic identity of the microbial donor. These results show that self-identified ethnicity may be an important variable to consider in microbiome studies, alongside other factors such as geography. Ultimately, this research may help to design better, more personalized treatments for an array of conditions.

Experiment 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-2-13

Curated date: 2022/06/08

Curator: Kaluifeanyi101

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101, WikiWorks, Aiyshaaaa, Peace Sandy

Subjects

Location of subjects: United States of America

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: Ethnic group Ethnicity,race,Ethnic group,ethnic group

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: White (W)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: East Asian (EA)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: A balanced distribution of both lean and obese adults who identified as East Asians residing within the Bay area of San Fransisco.

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 24

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 22

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

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V4

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: Mann-Whitney (Wilcoxon)

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: Yes

Alpha Diversity

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

Richness Number of species: decreased

Faith Phylogenetic diversity, takes into account phylogenetic distance of all taxa identified in a sample: decreased

Signature 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-2-13

Curated date: 2022/06/08

Curator: Kaluifeanyi101

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101, Aiyshaaaa, Peace Sandy

Source: Figure 1

Description: The gut microbiota is distinct between East Asian (EA) and White (W) subjects living in the Bay Area. (C) CLR abundances of all bacterial phyla between EA and W subjects. p-values determined using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in East Asian (EA)

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bacteroidota

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101, Aiyshaaaa, Peace Sandy

Signature 2

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Peace Sandy on 2024-2-13

Curated date: 2022/06/08

Curator: Kaluifeanyi101

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101, Aiyshaaaa, Peace Sandy

Source: Figure 1

Description: The gut microbiota is distinct between East Asian (EA) and White (W) subjects living in the Bay Area. (C) CLR abundances of all bacterial phyla between EA and W subjects. p-values determined using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in East Asian (EA)

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bacillota
Actinomycetes bacterium
Verrucomicrobiota
Fusobacteriota
Synergistota
Campylobacterota

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101, Aiyshaaaa, Peace Sandy