Philippine E-Journals

Diet Composition and Gut Microbiome of Healthy Adults in Albay and Manila

Abraham C. Sianoya | Leslie Michelle M. Dalmacio | Jiro Nakamaya

 

Abstract:

Gut microbes interact with their host in maintaining health or in the development of disease. Of the many factors that affect its structure, diet is one that can be classified by geographic location (rural vs. urban). Since health and disease also vary across locations, the study of gut microbiota, as an interface between diet and health status, can provide insights into the understanding of disease states. Therefore, this study will determine differences in the diet and the gut microbiome of healthy adults from rural Albay and urban Manila. A total of 61 healthy adult participants was recruited: 37 from Albay and 24 from Manila, with the given number of participants per group allowing ≥90% power to detect an effect size less than the set type I error (α=0.05). Their demographic profile, dietary infor-mation, and stool samples were collected. Fecal bacterial DNA was extracted from the stools and the 16 rRNA gene was se-quenced on MiSeq. The gut microbiome profile was determined using QIIME/USEARCH. Based on the dietary information, Albay has a significantly higher consumption of rice and porridge and carbohydrates intake than Manila (p<0.05) while protein and fat intake are the same between groups. Based on the sequencing data to date, Manila has a significantly higher abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae (p<0.05), a driver of BB-type microbiota expected in a high-fat, high-protein diet. The Prevotella abundance that is associated with vegetarian and high-plant-polysaccharide diets was inversely proportional to Bacteroides abundance, another driver of the BB-type microbiota. Lastly, gut bacterial diversity represented by the number of detected OTUs per sample in Albay is significantly greater than that of Manila (p<0.05). This shows that the abundance of certain bacterial signatures such as Bifidobacteriaceae and Prevotella and gut bacterial diversity vary between urban and rural healthy adult individuals who consume different diets.