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Interplay between the human gut microbiome and host metabolism
Alessia Visconti1, Caroline I Le Roy1, Fabio Rosa1
1Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.
Nature Communications
|October 5, 2019
Summary
The human gut microbiome
Area of Science:
- Microbiome research
- Metabolomics
- Human gut microbial ecology
Background:
- The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem.
- Previous research focused on microbial taxonomy, neglecting metabolic potential.
- The metabolic functions of gut microbes are crucial for human health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the metabolic potential of the human gut microbiome.
- To compare the contribution of microbial pathways versus species to host metabolism.
- To identify microbial metabolic targets for diagnostics and therapeutics.
Main Methods:
- Whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing of 1,004 twin individuals.
- Analysis of 673 blood and 713 fecal metabolites.
- Statistical association analysis between microbial pathways, species, and metabolites.
Main Results:
- Unrelated individuals share more metabolic pathways (82%) than species (43%).
- Microbial metabolic pathways are significantly associated with a higher percentage of blood (34%) and fecal (95%) metabolites compared to species.
- The microbiome engages in a metabolic dialogue with 71% of fecal and 15% of blood metabolites.
Conclusions:
- Microbial metabolic potential, not just taxonomy, is key for understanding host-microbiome interactions.
- Focusing on metabolic pathways offers promising therapeutic and diagnostic targets.
- This study provides a comprehensive resource on microbiome-metabolome interplay.
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