Gut Microbiota Associations with Metabolic Health and Obesity Status in Older Adults

Abstract

Emerging evidence links the gut microbiota with several chronic diseases. However, the relationships between metabolic syndrome (MetS), obesity and the gut microbiome are inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate associations between gut microbiota composition and diversity and metabolic health status in older adults (n = 382; median age = 69.91 [± 5 years], male = 50.79%) with and without obesity. Gut microbiome composition was determined by sequencing 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Results showed that alpha diversity and richness, as indicated by the Chao1 index (p = 0.038), phylogenetic diversity (p = 0.003) and observed species (p = 0.038) were higher among the metabolically healthy non-obese (MHNO) individuals compared to their metabolically unhealthy non-obese (MUNO) counterparts. Beta diversity analysis revealed distinct differences between the MHNO and MUNO individuals on the phylogenetic distance scale (R2 = 0.007, p = 0.004). The main genera contributing to the gut composition among the non-obese individuals were Prevotella, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, and unclassified Ruminococcaceae. Prevotella, Blautia, Bacteroides, and unclassified Ruminococcaceae mainly contributed to the variation among the obese individuals. Co-occurrence network analysis displayed different modules pattern among different metabolic groups and revealed groups of microbes significantly correlated with individual metabolic health markers. These findings confirm relationships between metabolic health status and gut microbiota composition particularly, among non-obese older adults.

Strenuous Physical Training, Physical Fitness, Body Composition and Bacteroides to Prevotella Ratio in the Gut of Elderly Athletes

“…In any case, genus-level Prevotella is not associated only with sport training history. Stroke and transient ischemic attack patients had fewer commensal or beneficial genera including Prevotella ( Yin et al, 2015 ), which, along with unclassified Lachnospiraceae and unclassified Ruminococcaceae , were the main genera contributing to gut composition among non-obese elderly individuals ( Zhong et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, an increased abundance of Prevotella was correlated with a number of amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism pathways, including branched-chain amino acid metabolism ( Petersen et al, 2017 ).…”

Impact of Intestinal Microbiota on Growth and Feed Efficiency in Pigs: A Review

“…Not surprisingly, in both of the studies represented in Table 1, the bacterial profile differed according to phenotype. Han et al [5] observed a lower faecal relative abundance of Bacteroides and Anaerotruncus, two genera that contain pathogenic species [8,9] but that were, however, associated with obesity in humans [10,11], in the heavier pigs. Functional predictions with PICRUSt showed a concomitant reduction in genes related to the nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain-like receptor (NLR) signalling pathway, which is associated with induction of a host immune response, which is energy-demanding.…”

“…2 pw = post-weaning; 3 UN_ = uncultured (Note: Uncultured phyla have been omitted); 4 RE = restriction enzyme; 5 PTS = phosphotransferase system; 6 IS = Incertae sedis; 7 AT = Austria; 8 NI = Northern Ireland; 9 ROI = Republic of Ireland; 10 UNID_ = unidentified. 11 Only top 20 differentially enriched species listed as in the publication. Some of the bacteria associated with better FE across studies ferment a range of substrates and are particularly associated with butyrate production.…”

Impact of Dietary Patterns on H. pylori Infection and the Modulation of Microbiota to Counteract Its Effect. A Narrative Review

“…However, it is known that H. pylori -induced alterations in the composition of the intestinal microbiota are due to changes in the lifestyle and diet patterns of H. pylori -infected individuals [ 20 ]. In addition, as discussed below, H. pylori infection leads to a reduction in Lactobacillus , Lachnospiraceae , and Blautia , bacteria that have also been found to be reduced in metabolic diseases such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes [ 68 , 69 , 70 ]. Thus, altered intestinal microbiota may lead to disease.…”