Assessing the Influence of Dietary History on Gut Microbiota

Diet is known to play a major role in determining the composition and function of the gut microbiota. Previous studies have often focused on the immediate effects of dietary intervention. How dietary history prior to a given dietary intervention influences the gut microbiota is, however, not well understood. To assess the influence of dietary history, in this study, mice with different dietary histories were subjected to the same dietary interventions, and the gut microbial communities of these mice were characterized by 16S rDNA sequencing. We found that dietary history played a long-lasting role in the composition of the gut microbiota when the dietary switch was moderate. In sharp contrast, such effects nearly vanished when the diet was switched to certain extreme dietary conditions. Interestingly, the abundance of Akkermansia, a bacterial genus associated with loss of body weight, was elevated dramatically in mice subjected to a diet composed exclusively of meat. Our results revealed a more complex picture of the influence of dietary history on gut microbiota than anticipated.