Alterations in the Gut Microbiota and Metabolomics of Seafarers after a Six-Month Sea Voyage

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Svetlana up on 2024-4-5

study design

time series / longitudinal observational

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

36197290

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1128/spectrum.01899-22

URI

Authors

Jiang CH, Fang X, Huang W, Guo JY, Chen JY, Wu HY, Li ZS, Zou WB, Liao Z

Journal

Microbiology spectrum

Year

2022

Keywords:

16S rRNA gene sequencing, gut microbiota, metabolic pathways, sea voyage, seafarers’ health care, untargeted metabolomics

Maintaining the health of seafarers is a difficult task during long-term voyages. Little is known about the corresponding changes in the gut microbiome-host interaction. This study recruited 30 seafarers undertaking a 6-month voyage and analyzed their gut microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Fecal untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Significant changes in the composition of the gut microbiota and an increased ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes at the end (day 180) of the 6-month voyage, relative to the start (day 0), were observed. At the genus level, the abundances of Holdemanella and Plesiomonas were significantly increased, while the abundance of Bacteroides was decreased. Predicted microbial functional analysis revealed significant decreases in folate biosynthesis and biotin metabolism. Furthermore, 20 differential metabolites within six differentially enriched human metabolic pathways (including arginine biosynthesis, lysine degradation, phenylalanine metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, and glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism) were identified by comparing the fecal metabolites at day 0 and day 180. Spearman correlation analysis revealed close relationships between the 14 differential microbiota members and the six differential fecal metabolites that might affect specific human metabolic pathways. This study adopted a multi-omics approach and provides potential targets for maintaining the health of seafarers during long-term voyages. These findings are worthy of more in-depth exploration in future studies. IMPORTANCE Maintaining the health of seafarers undertaking long-term voyages is a difficult task. Apart from the alterations in the gut microbiome and fecal metabolites after a long-term voyage, our study also revealed that 20 differential metabolites within six differentially enriched human metabolic pathways are worthy of attention. Moreover, we found close relationships between the 14 differential microbiota members and the six differential fecal metabolites that might impact specific human metabolic pathways. Accordingly, preventative measures, such as adjusting the gut microbiota by decreasing potential pathobionts or increasing potential probiotics as well as offsetting the decrease in B vitamins and beneficial metabolites (e.g., d-glucuronic acid and citrulline) via dietary adjustment or nutritional supplements, might improve the health of seafarers during long-term sea voyages. These findings provide valuable clues about gut microbiome-host interactions and propose potential targets for maintaining the health of seafarers engaged in long-term sea voyages.

Experiment 1

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Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Svetlana up on 2024-4-5

Curated date: 2024/03/31

Curator: Welile

Revision editor(s): WikiWorks, Scholastica, Aleru Divine, Welile, Ifeanyisam

Subjects

Location of subjects: China

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: Sampling time sampling_time_point,Sampling time,sampling time

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

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Day 180

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Seafarers at the end (day 180) of the 6-month voyage

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 30

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 30

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V3-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: LEfSe; 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

LDA Score above Threshold for the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) score for studies using the popular LEfSe tool: 2

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

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

Signature 1

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Curated date: 2024/03/31

Curator: Scholastica

Revision editor(s): Scholastica, Welile, WikiWorks

Source: Fig. 1c, Fig. 1d

Description: Differential relative abundances of bacterial genera between day 0 and day 180 of the voyage. *, P , 0.05; **, P , 0.01. (Wilcoxon rank sum test and LeFse)

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Day 180

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Allobaculum
Catonella
Finegoldia
Holdemanella
Plesiomonas
Ramlibacter
Rhodobacteraceae bacterium HIMB11
Weissella
Tyzzerella_3Tyzzerella_3
Ruminococcaceae_ UCG-008Ruminococcaceae_ UCG-008
Ruminococcaceae_UCG-013Ruminococcaceae_UCG-013
Lactobacillaceae

Revision editor(s): Scholastica, Welile, WikiWorks

Signature 2

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Mark reviewed

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Curated date: 2024/03/31

Curator: Scholastica

Revision editor(s): Scholastica, Welile, WikiWorks

Source: Fig. 1c, Fig. 1d

Description: Differential relative abundances of bacterial genera between day 0 and day 180 of the voyage. *, P , 0.05; **, P , 0.01. (Wilcoxon rank sum test and LeFse)

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Day 180

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Thomasclavelia
Bilophila
Faecalitalea
Coriobacteriaceae_UCG-002Coriobacteriaceae_UCG-002
Lachnoclostridium
Phascolarctobacterium
Acidaminococcaceae
Deltaproteobacteria
Mycobacteriales
Desulfovibrionaceae
Desulfovibrionales

Revision editor(s): Scholastica, Welile, WikiWorks