Org Elin, Blum Yuna, Kasela Silva, Mehrabian Margarete, Kuusisto Johanna, Kangas Antti J, Soininen Pasi, Wang Zeneng, Ala-Korpela Mika, Hazen Stanley L, Laakso Markku, Lusis Aldons J
Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Estonian Genome Centre, University of Tartu, Tartu, 51010, Estonia.
Genome Biol. 2017 Apr 13;18(1):70. doi: 10.1186/s13059-017-1194-2.
The gut microbiome is a complex and metabolically active community that directly influences host phenotypes. In this study, we profile gut microbiota using 16S rRNA gene sequencing in 531 well-phenotyped Finnish men from the Metabolic Syndrome In Men (METSIM) study.
We investigate gut microbiota relationships with a variety of factors that have an impact on the development of metabolic and cardiovascular traits. We identify novel associations between gut microbiota and fasting serum levels of a number of metabolites, including fatty acids, amino acids, lipids, and glucose. In particular, we detect associations with fasting plasma trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) levels, a gut microbiota-dependent metabolite associated with coronary artery disease and stroke. We further investigate the gut microbiota composition and microbiota-metabolite relationships in subjects with different body mass index and individuals with normal or altered oral glucose tolerance. Finally, we perform microbiota co-occurrence network analysis, which shows that certain metabolites strongly correlate with microbial community structure and that some of these correlations are specific for the pre-diabetic state.
Our study identifies novel relationships between the composition of the gut microbiota and circulating metabolites and provides a resource for future studies to understand host-gut microbiota relationships.
肠道微生物群是一个复杂且具有代谢活性的群落，直接影响宿主表型。在本研究中，我们使用16S rRNA基因测序对来自男性代谢综合征（METSIM）研究的531名表型良好的芬兰男性的肠道微生物群进行了分析。
我们研究了肠道微生物群与多种影响代谢和心血管特征发展的因素之间的关系。我们确定了肠道微生物群与多种代谢物的空腹血清水平之间的新关联，这些代谢物包括脂肪酸、氨基酸、脂质和葡萄糖。特别是，我们检测到与空腹血浆三甲胺N-氧化物（TMAO）水平的关联，TMAO是一种与冠状动脉疾病和中风相关的肠道微生物群依赖性代谢物。我们进一步研究了不同体重指数的受试者以及口服葡萄糖耐量正常或改变的个体的肠道微生物群组成和微生物群-代谢物关系。最后，我们进行了微生物群共现网络分析，结果表明某些代谢物与微生物群落结构密切相关，其中一些相关性在糖尿病前期状态中具有特异性。
我们的研究确定了肠道微生物群组成与循环代谢物之间的新关系，并为未来研究理解宿主-肠道微生物群关系提供了资源。
