Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2025
09:19
Capturing Actively Produced Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds from Human-Associated Samples with Vacuum-Assisted Sorbent Extraction
Published on: June 1, 2022
4.1K
Differences in the Stool Metabolome between Vegans and Omnivores: Analyzing the NIST Stool Reference Material
Raquel Cumeras1,2,3, Tong Shen1, Luis Valdiviez1
1West Coast Metabolomics Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Metabolites
|August 25, 2023
Summary
New human fecal reference materials from NIST were analyzed using untargeted and targeted metabolomics. Diet significantly impacted metabolite profiles, with vegan and omnivore diets showing distinct biomarkers, highlighting the need for diet-specific quality controls in metabolomics.
Area of Science:
- Metabolomics
- Human Microbiome Research
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- Accurate omic-data acquisition relies on validated quality control materials for method benchmarking.
- Human fecal reference materials are crucial for standardizing metagenomics and metabolomics measurements.
- The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) developed new reference grade test materials (RGTM) for these purposes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To benchmark untargeted and targeted metabolomics assays using novel human fecal reference materials.
- To analyze the impact of diet (vegan vs. omnivore) and sample treatment (lyophilized vs. aqueous) on fecal metabolome profiles.
- To identify diet-specific metabolites and bioactive molecules for dietary biomarker studies.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of four NIST human fecal reference materials (RGTM 10162, 10171, 10172, 10173) representing different diets and storage conditions.
- Application of four untargeted metabolomics assays: lipidomics, primary metabolites, biogenic amines, and polyphenols.
- Utilized one targeted assay for bile acids and mass spectrometry for compound annotation.
Main Results:
- A total of 3563 compounds were annotated, with hydrophilic interaction chromatography/accurate mass spectrometry being the most effective method.
- Significant differences in 910 metabolites (peptides, amino acids, lipids) were observed between vegan and omnivore diets.
- Diet-specific metabolites, including citrinin, C17:0-acylcarnitine (omnivore), curcumin, and lenticin (vegan), were identified.
Conclusions:
- The developed human fecal reference materials are valuable for quality control in metabolomics.
- Diet is a major driver of fecal metabolite profiles, with vegan and omnivore diets yielding distinct signatures.
- These findings underscore the importance of diet-specific reference materials for accurate dietary biomarker discovery and validation.
