Dataset Information

Gut Microbiota Resilience: Definition, Link to Health and Strategies for Intervention

ABSTRACT: The gut microbiota is a new frontier in health and disease. Not only many diseases are associated with perturbed microbiota, but an increasing number of studies point to a cause-effect relationship. Defining a healthy microbiota is not possible at the current state of our knowledge mostly because of high interindividual variability. A resilient microbiota could be used as surrogate for healthy microbiota. In addition, the gut microbiota is an “organ” with frontline exposure to environmental changes and insults. During the lifetime of an individual, it is exposed to challenges such as unhealthy diet, medications and infections. Impaired ability to bounce back to the pre-challenge baseline may lead to dysbiosis. It is therefore legitimate to postulate that maintaining a resilient microbiota may be important for health. Here we review the concept of resilience, what is known about the characteristics of a resilient microbiota, and how to assess microbiota resilience experimentally using a model of high fat diet challenge in humans. Interventions to maintain microbiota resilience can be guided by the knowledge of what microbial species or functions are perturbed by challenges, and designed to replace diminished species with probiotics, when available, or boost them with prebiotics. Fibers with multiple structures and composition can also be used to increase microbiota diversity, a characteristic of the microbiota that may be associated with resilience. We finally discuss some open questions and knowledge gaps.

SUBMITTER: Dogra S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7522446 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundWith the rising rates of obesity and associated metabolic disorders, there is a growing need for effective long-term weight-loss strategies, coupled with an understanding of how they interface with human physiology. Interest is growing in the potential role of gut microbes as they pertain to responses to different weight-loss diets; however, the ways that diet, the gut microbiota, and long-term weight loss influence one another is not well understood.ObjectivesOur primary objective was to determine if baseline microbiota composition or diversity was associated with weight-loss success. A secondary objective was to track the longitudinal associations of changes to lower-carbohydrate or lower-fat diets and concomitant weight loss with the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota.MethodsWe used 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing to profile microbiota composition over a 12-mo period in 49 participants as part of a larger randomized dietary intervention study of participants consuming either a healthy low-carbohydrate or a healthy low-fat diet.ResultsWhile baseline microbiota composition was not predictive of weight loss, each diet resulted in substantial changes in the microbiota 3-mo after the start of the intervention; some of these changes were diet specific (14 taxonomic changes specific to the healthy low-carbohydrate diet, 12 taxonomic changes specific to the healthy low-fat diet) and others tracked with weight loss (7 taxonomic changes in both diets). After these initial shifts, the microbiota returned near its original baseline state for the remainder of the intervention, despite participants maintaining their diet and weight loss for the entire study.ConclusionsThese results suggest a resilience to perturbation of the microbiota's starting profile. When considering the established contribution of obesity-associated microbiotas to weight gain in animal models, microbiota resilience may need to be overcome for long-term alterations to human physiology. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01826591.

Project description:Understanding mechanisms governing the resistance and resilience of microbial communities is essential for predicting their ecological responses to environmental disturbances. Although we have a good understanding of such issues for soil and lake ecosystems, how ecological resistance and resilience regulate the microbiota in the fish gut ecosystem remains unclear. Using the zebrafish model, we clarified the potential mechanisms governing the gut microbiota after exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Here, we explored the ecological resistance and resilience of gut microbiota in zebrafish exposed to different concentrations of AgNPs (i.e., 10, 33 and 100 μg/liter) for 15, 45, 75 days. The high-throughput sequencing analysis of the 16S rRNA gene showed that AgNP exposure significantly reduced the α-diversity of gut microbiota and resulted in obvious dynamics of community composition and structure. However, the rebound of zebrafish gut microbiota was pushed toward an alternative state after 15 days of AgNP exposure. We found that homogeneous selection was a more prevalent contributor in driving gut community recovery after AgNP exposure. The resilience and resistance of gut microbiota responses to AgNP disturbance might be mainly determined by the predominant keystone taxa such as Acinetobacter and Gemmata. This study not only expanded our understanding of fish gut microbiota's responses to pollutants but also provided new insights into maintaining host-microbiome stability during environmental perturbations. IMPORTANCE Understanding the ecological mechanisms governing the resistance and resilience of microbial communities is a key issue to predict their responses to environmental disturbances. Using the zebrafish model, we wanted to clarify the potential mechanisms governing the resistance and resilience of gut microbiota after exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). We found that AgNP contamination significantly reduced the α-diversity of gut microbiota and resulted in obvious changes in community composition. The resilience and resistance of gut microbiota to AgNPs might be associated with the predominant keystone taxa (e.g., Acinetobacter and Gemmata). This study greatly expanded our understanding of how fish gut microbiota responds to environmental perturbations and maintains stability.

Dataset Information

Gut Microbiota Resilience: Definition, Link to Health and Strategies for Intervention

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets