Diet-Microbiome Interactions in Health Are Controlled by Intestinal Nitrogen Source Constraints

Abstract

Diet influences health and patterns of disease in populations. How different diets do this and why outcomes of diets vary between individuals are complex and involve interaction with the gut microbiome. A major challenge for predicting health outcomes of the host-microbiome dynamic is reconciling the effects of different aspects of diet (food composition or intake rate) on the system. Here we show that microbial community assembly is fundamentally shaped by a dichotomy in bacterial strategies to access nitrogen in the gut environment. Consequently, the pattern of dietary protein intake constrains the host-microbiome dynamic in ways that are common to a very broad range of diet manipulation strategies. These insights offer a mechanism for the impact of high protein intake on metabolic health and form the basis for a general theory of the impact of different diet strategies on host-microbiome outcomes.

Shaping the Metabolism of Intestinal Bacteroides Population through Diet to Improve Human Health

“…Dietary fiber fermentation promotes a slight decrease of the luminal pH whereas high protein/amino acids fermentation, favored by low carbohydrate availability, causes slightly pH increases (Smith and MacFarlane, 1998). Interestingly, a recent study with mice demonstrated that diet-microbiome interactions are driven by the pattern of protein and carbohydrate intake (Holmes et al, 2017). Moreover, some experiments with gnotobiotic mice support shifts in Bacteroides metabolic functions as a response to dietary changes (McNulty et al, 2013; Wu et al, 2015).…”

Evolving role of diet in the pathogenesis and treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases

“…Changing from a plant-based to an animal-based diet radically changes bacterial taxa and metabolism, leading to alterations in bile acids and sulfide metabolism, both of which may play a role in IBD 30. Recent data suggest that the most important factors regulating compositional changes are access to calorie, carbohydrate and protein intake 31. Since diet has such an important role in gut homeostasis, and interacts with the microbiome, host barrier and immunity, we will explore the possible and plausible role of dietary factors in the pathogenesis of IBD.…”

Integrative Physiology: At the Crossroads of Nutrition, Microbiota, Animal Physiology, and Human Health

“…For example, NG has been used in flies and mice to show that macronutrient intakes (amounts, quality and balance) profoundly impact appetite, growth, reproduction, aging, cardio-metabolic health, obesity and immune function (Solon-Biet et al, 2016; Solon-Biet et al, 2014; Solon-Biet et al, 2015). NG has also been used to map the microbial ecology of the gut in flies and mice as a function of macronutrient intakes (Holmes et al, 2016; Ponton et al, 2015). Such mapping allows comprehensive associations to be made between diet composition, microbial assemblage structure and multiple host health outcomes; and to help define community diversity, functional guilds and keystone species among bacterial taxa as related to ingested and host-derived sources of nutrients (Holmes et al, 2016).…”

“…NG has also been used to map the microbial ecology of the gut in flies and mice as a function of macronutrient intakes (Holmes et al, 2016; Ponton et al, 2015). Such mapping allows comprehensive associations to be made between diet composition, microbial assemblage structure and multiple host health outcomes; and to help define community diversity, functional guilds and keystone species among bacterial taxa as related to ingested and host-derived sources of nutrients (Holmes et al, 2016). As a result, concepts such as microbial ‘dysbiosis’ and the ‘holobiont’ become more tractable to mechanistic exploration (Holmes et al, 2016; Wong et al, 2015a).…”