Symbiotic gut microbes modulate human metabolic phenotypes
Open Access
- 12 February 2008
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 105 (6), 2117-2122
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0712038105
Abstract
Humans have evolved intimate symbiotic relationships with a consortium of gut microbes (microbiome) and individual variations in the microbiome influence host health, may be implicated in disease etiology, and affect drug metabolism, toxicity, and efficacy. However, the molecular basis of these microbe–host interactions and the roles of individual bacterial species are obscure. We now demonstrate a“transgenomic” approach to link gut microbiome and metabolic phenotype (metabotype) variation. We have used a combination of spectroscopic, microbiomic, and multivariate statistical tools to analyze fecal and urinary samples from seven Chinese individuals (sampled twice) and to model the microbial–host metabolic connectivities. At the species level, we found structural differences in the Chinese family gut microbiomes and those reported for American volunteers, which is consistent with population microbial cometabolic differences reported in epidemiological studies. We also introduce the concept of functional metagenomics, defined as “the characterization of key functional members of the microbiome that most influence host metabolism and hence health.” For example, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii population variation is associated with modulation of eight urinary metabolites of diverse structure, indicating that this species is a highly functionally active member of the microbiome, influencing numerous host pathways. Other species were identified showing different and varied metabolic interactions. Our approach for understanding the dynamic basis of host–microbiome symbiosis provides a foundation for the development of functional metagenomics as a probe of systemic effects of drugs and diet that are of relevance to personal and public health care solutions.Keywords
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- A top‐down systems biology view of microbiome‐mammalian metabolic interactions in a mouse modelMolecular Systems Biology, 2007
- Human gut microbes associated with obesityNature, 2006
- An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvestNature, 2006
- Metabolic profiling reveals a contribution of gut microbiota to fatty liver phenotype in insulin-resistant miceProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Molecular Profiling of the Clostridium leptum Subgroup in Human Fecal Microflora by PCR-Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis and Clone Library AnalysisApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2006
- Metagenomic Analysis of the Human Distal Gut MicrobiomeScience, 2006
- Global systems biology, personalized medicine and molecular epidemiologyMolecular Systems Biology, 2006
- UniFrac: a New Phylogenetic Method for Comparing Microbial CommunitiesApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2005
- Diversity of the Human Intestinal Microbial FloraScience, 2005
- The Host Genotype Affects the Bacterial Community in the Human Gastronintestinal TractMicrobial Ecology in Health & Disease, 2001