Mohr Alex E, Jasbi Paniz, van Woerden Irene, Chi Jinhua, Gu Haiwei, Bruening Meg, Whisner Corrie M
College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Center for Health Through Microbiomes, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Gut Microbes Rep. 2024;1(1):1-23. doi: 10.1080/29933935.2024.2387936. Epub 2024 Aug 19.
The human gut microbiome (GM) undergoes dynamic changes throughout life, transitioning from infancy to adulthood. Despite improved understanding over the past years about how genetics, lifestyle, and the external environment impact the GM, limited research has explored the GM's evolution during late-stage adolescence, especially among college students. This study addresses this gap by investigating the longitudinal dynamics of fecal microbial, functional, and metabolomic signatures in a diverse group of first-year, dormitory-housed college students. A total of 485 stool samples from 246 participants were analyzed, identifying four primary GM community types, predominantly led by (66.8% of samples), as well as and . The / (P/B) ratio emerged as a robust GM composition indicator, predictively associated with 15 metabolites. Notably, higher P/B ratios correlated negatively with p-cresol sulfate and cholesterol sulfate, implying potential health implications, while positively correlating with kynurenic acid. Distinct GM transition and stability patterns were found from a detailed longitudinal subset of 93 participants over an academic year. and the exhibited positive associations with compositional variability, whereas and displayed negative associations, the latter suggesting stabilizing roles in the GM. Most notably, nearly half of the longitudinal cohort experienced GM community shifts, emphasizing long-term GM adaptability. Comparing individuals with stable community types to those undergoing transitions, we observed significant differences in microbial composition and diversity, signifying substantial shifts in the microbiota during transitions. Although diet-related variables contributed to some observed variance, diet did not independently predict the probability of switching between community types within the study's timeframe via multi-state Markov modeling. Furthermore, exploration of stability within dynamic microbiomes among the longitudinal cohort experiencing shifts in community types revealed that microbiome taxa at the genus level exhibited significantly higher total variance than estimated functional and fecal metabolomic features. This suggests tight control of function and metabolism, despite community shifting. Overall, this study highlights the dynamic nature of the late-stage adolescent GM, the role of core taxa, metabolic pathways, the fecal metabolome, and lifestyle and dietary factors, contributing to our understanding of GM assembly and potential health implications during this life phase.
人类肠道微生物群（GM）在整个生命过程中会发生动态变化，从婴儿期过渡到成年期。尽管在过去几年中，人们对基因、生活方式和外部环境如何影响肠道微生物群的理解有所提高，但针对青春期后期（尤其是大学生群体）肠道微生物群进化的研究仍然有限。本研究通过调查一群多样化的大学一年级住校学生粪便微生物、功能和代谢组学特征的纵向动态变化，填补了这一空白。研究共分析了246名参与者的485份粪便样本，确定了四种主要的肠道微生物群类型，主要由（66.8%的样本）主导，以及和。/（P/B）比率成为一个可靠的肠道微生物群组成指标，与15种代谢物存在预测性关联。值得注意的是，较高的P/B比率与对甲酚硫酸盐和胆固醇硫酸盐呈负相关，这意味着潜在的健康影响，而与犬尿酸呈正相关。在一个学年内，对93名参与者的详细纵向子集进行分析，发现了不同的肠道微生物群转变和稳定性模式。和与组成变异性呈正相关，而和呈负相关，后者表明在肠道微生物群中具有稳定作用。最值得注意的是，近一半的纵向队列经历了肠道微生物群的转变，强调了肠道微生物群的长期适应性。将具有稳定群落类型的个体与经历转变的个体进行比较，我们观察到微生物组成和多样性存在显著差异，这表明在转变过程中微生物群发生了重大变化。虽然与饮食相关的变量导致了一些观察到的差异，但在研究的时间范围内，饮食并不能通过多状态马尔可夫模型独立预测群落类型之间转换的概率。此外，对经历群落类型转变的纵向队列中动态微生物群稳定性的探索表明，属水平的微生物群分类群表现出比估计的功能和粪便代谢组学特征显著更高的总方差。这表明尽管群落发生了变化，但功能和代谢仍受到严格控制。总体而言，本研究突出了青春期后期肠道微生物群的动态性质、核心分类群的作用、代谢途径、粪便代谢组以及生活方式和饮食因素，有助于我们理解这一生命阶段肠道微生物群的组装及其对健康的潜在影响。
