Socioeconomic Status and the Gut Microbiome: A TwinsUK Cohort Study

Study information

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study design

cross-sectional observational, not case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

30641975

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.3390/microorganisms7010017

URI

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30641975/

Authors

Bowyer RCE, Jackson MA, Le Roy CI, Ni Lochlainn M, Spector TD, Dowd JB, Steves CJ

Journal

Microorganisms

Year

2019

Keywords:

SES, microbiome, microbiota, sociobiome, socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic inequalities in health and mortality are well established, but the biological mechanisms underlying these associations are less understood. In parallel, the gut microbiome is emerging as a potentially important determinant of human health, but little is known about its broader environmental and social determinants. We test the association between gut microbiota composition and individual- and area-level socioeconomic factors in a well-characterized twin cohort. In this study, 1672 healthy volunteers from twin registry TwinsUK had data available for at least one socioeconomic measure, existing fecal 16S rRNA microbiota data, and all considered co-variables. Associations with socioeconomic status (SES) were robust to adjustment for known health correlates of the microbiome; conversely, these health-microbiome associations partially attenuated with adjustment for SES. Twins discordant for IMD (Index of Multiple Deprivation) were shown to significantly differ by measures of compositional dissimilarity, with suggestion the greater the difference in twin pair IMD, the greater the dissimilarity of their microbiota. Future research should explore how SES might influence the composition of the gut microbiota and its potential role as a mediator of differences associated with SES.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2022/06/10

Curator: Kaluifeanyi101

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Subjects

Location of subjects: United Kingdom

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: Socioeconomic status class,Socioeconomic status,socioeconomic status,socioeconomic factors

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Higher SES (income= > £25,000)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: lower SES (income<£25,000)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Lower socioeconomic status(SES) with higher deprivation by income <£25,000

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 457

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 342

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

Statistical test: edgeR

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

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

Alpha Diversity

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

Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness: decreased

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

Signature 1

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Source: Figure 2A; Tabel 2

Description: Differential abundance of OTUs with socioeconomic variables and covariates. DeSeq2 calculated the differential abundance of OTUs in: (A). Between the lowest and highest levels of deprivation for education, income, and the IMD, and in models adjusted for age, Body Mass Index (BMI), health deficit (FI), and diet (HEI).

Table 2. Summary of taxa assigned to OTUs found to be differentially abundant between the most-deprived and least-deprived measures of socioeconomic status in at least two models. Only taxa with multiple OTUs assigned to it, or with multiple SES factors associated with it, and with q-value <, 0.01 are discussed. OTUs relatively enriched in the least deprived compared to the highest for each SES variable are indicated with (+); those enriched in the most deprived compared to the least indicated with (−); where multiple directions of association were observed, this is indicated with (+/−).

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in lower SES (income<£25,000)

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Enterobacterales
Erysipelotrichales
Lactobacillales

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101

Signature 2

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Curated date: 2022/06/10

Curator: Kaluifeanyi101

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Source: Figure 2A; Table 2

Description: Differential abundance of OTUs with socioeconomic variables and covariates. DeSeq2 calculated the differential abundance of OTUs in: (A). Between the lowest and highest levels of deprivation for education, income, and the IMD, and in models adjusted for age, Body Mass Index (BMI), health deficit (FI), and diet (HEI). Table 2. Summary of taxa assigned to OTUs found to be differentially abundant between the most-deprived and least-deprived measures of socioeconomic status in at least two models. Only taxa with multiple OTUs assigned to it, or with multiple SES factors associated with it, and with q-value <, 0.01 are discussed. OTUs relatively enriched in the least deprived compared to the highest for each SES variable are indicated with (+); those enriched in the most deprived compared to the least indicated with (−); where multiple directions of association were observed, this is indicated with (+/−).

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in lower SES (income<£25,000)

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Eubacteriales
Verrucomicrobiales
Rikenellaceae

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101