1. Epidemiology and Global Health
  2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Intestinal microbiology shapes population health impacts of diet and lifestyle risk exposures in Torres Strait Islander communities

  1. Fredrick M Mobegi
  2. Lex EX Leong
  3. Fintan Thompson
  4. Sean M Taylor
  5. Linton R Harriss
  6. Jocelyn M Choo
  7. Steven L Taylor
  8. Steve L Wesselingh
  9. Robyn McDermott
  10. Kerry L Ivey  Is a corresponding author
  11. Geraint B Rogers  Is a corresponding author
  1. Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Australia
  2. SAHMRI Microbiome Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Australia
  3. Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Australia
  4. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Australia
  5. School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Australia
  6. Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, United States
  7. Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Australia
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.58407
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Cite this article
  1. Fredrick M Mobegi
  2. Lex EX Leong
  3. Fintan Thompson
  4. Sean M Taylor
  5. Linton R Harriss
  6. Jocelyn M Choo
  7. Steven L Taylor
  8. Steve L Wesselingh
  9. Robyn McDermott
  10. Kerry L Ivey
  11. Geraint B Rogers
(2020)
Intestinal microbiology shapes population health impacts of diet and lifestyle risk exposures in Torres Strait Islander communities
eLife 9:e58407.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.58407
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5 figures, 2 tables and 3 additional files

Figures

Figure 1 with 1 supplement
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Island-specific differences in the species composition of the microbiome.

(a) Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling of the Bray Curtis similarity resemblance matrix, with ellipses at 95% confidence interval. n = 100 (b) Fold differences in LDA mean proportions of …

Figure 1—figure supplement 1
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Taxonomic profile of the 100 Torres Strait Islander participants included in the study.

The size of the nodes represents the logarithmically scaled relative abundances of taxa. Only clades consisting of at least five markers, with nodes constituting at least 1% relative abundance, are …

Figure 2 with 1 supplement
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Functional pathways of the gut microbiota that significantly differed in abundance between Mer and Waiben communities.

(a) Pathway abundances at the whole community level were statistically compared between the groups, and the 95% confidence interval of the effect-size for each pathway was determined using a non-para…

Figure 2—figure supplement 1
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Heatmap representation of stratified contribution to whole-community pathway abundances.

Bacterial species that significantly contributed to the stratified pathway abundances between the groups are depicted (Mann-Whitney test with false discovery rate correction for multiple testing, p<0…

Figure 3 with 1 supplement
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Structural equation model describing the pattern of interrelationships between exposures, microbiome, and host inflammation.

A modified path diagram of the final SEM supporting the mediatory effect of the gut microbiota on inflammation. The heatmaps represent direct associations of diet, behavior, and demographics with …

Figure 3—figure supplement 1
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Theoretical models for assessing the structure of associations between the various human exposures, the gut microbiota, and the host’s inflammatory profile.

(a) Final framework (framework 1): The gut microbiome mediates, in part, the relationship between exposure risk factors and host inflammation. (b) Framework 2: The gut microbiome and exposure risk …

Figure 4 with 3 supplements
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Lachnospiraceae bacterium 8_1_57FAA mediates the unadjusted relation of sugar-sweetened beverage intake with the serum concentration of Interleukin 15 and mean arterial pressure.

(a) Lachnospiraceae bacterium 8_1_57FAA mediates the unadjusted relation of sugar-sweetened beverage intake with the serum concentration of Interleukin 15. The total effect (95% confidence interval) …

Figure 4—figure supplement 1
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Role of Lachnospiraceae bacterium 8 1 57FAA in mediating the relation of sugar-sweetened beverage intake with the serum concentration of Interleukin 15.

(a) Age-adjusted model. The total effect (95% confidence interval) for the model was 0.049 (0.015, 0.086) P-value: 0.004. (b) Age- and island-adjusted model. The total effect (95% confidence …

Figure 4—figure supplement 2
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Role of Lachnospiraceae bacterium 8 1 57FAA in mediating the relation of sugar-sweetened beverage intake with the mean arterial pressure.

(a) Age-adjusted model. The total effect (95% confidence interval) for the model was 0.842 (−0.822, 2.520) P-value: 0.300. (b) Age-and island-adjusted model. The total effect (95% confidence …

Figure 4—figure supplement 3
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16S rRNA-based phylogeny of Lachnospiraceae.

Lachnospiraceae family-restricted blast search (blast parameters e-value = 1 e-10, Max targets = 250) using Lachnospiraceae bacterium 8_1_57FAA 16 rRNA as a query against the NCBI non-redundant …

Figure 5
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Systolic blood pressure in the context of an interaction between Alistipes onderdonkii and island systolic blood pressure.

(a) Unadjusted model, (b) age-adjusted model, and (c) multivariate-adjusted model which includes the adjustment for age, body mass index, gender, smoking status, and intakes of fruits, vegetables, …

Tables

Table 1
Characteristics of Waiben and Mer residents.
CharacteristicWaiben
(n = 50)		Mer
(n = 50)		Unadjusted
P-value *		Age-adjusted
P-value †
Age [years]40 (31, 54)58 (36, 65)0.003NA
Exposure chronic disease risk factors
Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption [serves/day]1 (0, 1)1 (0, 1)0.5760.562
Fruit consumption [serves/day]2 (1, 3)2 (1, 2)0.6800.682
Vegetable consumption [serves/day]3.5 (2.0, 5.0)3.5 (2.0, 4.0)0.6090.606
Takeaway consumption [serves/week]1 (0, 2)0 (0, 1)0.0110.009
Seafood consumption [serves/week]2 (1, 3)2 (1, 5)0.0200.021
Alcoholic beverage consumption [serves/day]0.33 (0.00, 0.99)0.20 (0.00, 1.88)0.5970.592
Smoking [cigarettes/day]0.00 (0.00, 5.25)0.00 (0.00, 2.25)0.8040.800
Physical activity [min/week]180 (90, 236)210 (150, 360)0.9250.925
Biological chronic disease risk factors
Glucose [mmol/L] ‡5.2 (4.7, 5.7)5.6 (4.8, 6.5)0.0560.050
HbA1c [mmol/mol] ‡38 (34, 42)43 (36.5, 45)0.1270.109
Systolic blood pressure [mmHg]121 (112.5, 129.5)129 (115.3, 139.5)0.0280.025
Mean arterial pressure [mmHg]87.8 (72.0–113.7)95.8 (61.0–126.3)0.0340.033
Body mass index [kg/m2]31.1 (25.8, 37.9)32.1 (25.5, 36.5)0.8930.893
Waist circumference [cm]105 (92, 116)116 (101, 125)0.0190.016
Waist to hip ratio0.62 (0.53, 0.69)0.68 (0.61, 0.75)0.0350.027
Inflammatory biomarkers ‡
Interferon γ [pg/mL]0.69 (0.61, 0.83)0.96 (0.67, 1.18)<0.001<0.001
C-Reactive protein [mg/L]0.36 (0.23, 0.51)1.36 (0.63, 1.76)<0.001<0.001
Interleukin-1β [pg/mL]0.39 (0.19, 0.61)0.37 (0.23, 0.5)0.5340.536
Interleukin-12p40 [pg/mL]1.98 (1.26, 3.47)6.32 (3.31, 11.37)<0.001<0.001
Interleukin-12p70 [pg/mL]0.46 (0.41, 0.51)0.82 (0.62, 1.07)<0.001<0.001
Interleukin-13 [pg/mL]1.72 (1.48, 1.94)1.82 (1.82, 2.07)0.0080.008
Interleukin-15 [pg/mL]7.37 (4.36, 10.7)8.76 (6.89, 12.23)0.2810.272
Interleukin-18 [pg/mL]11.34 (4.57, 18.17)21.38 (13.26, 37.51)<0.001<0.001
Interleukin-4 [pg/mL]4.97 (4.61, 6.09)6.80 (5.95, 9.23)<0.001<0.001
MCP-1/CCL2 [pg/mL]52.77 (32.89, 88.41)111.60 (67.65, 149.9)<0.001<0.001
Tumor necrosis factor α [pg/mL]0.17 (0.11, 0.30)0.47 (0.40, 0.68)<0.001<0.001
Species-alpha diversity
Count [Chao1 species richness]68.5 (64.0, 72.3)68.0 (57.8, 73.3)0.8050.805
Distribution [Shannon evenness index]0.68 (0.61, 0.71)0.71 (0.66, 0.75)0.0270.026
Variety [Shannon diversity index]2.83 (2.50, 2.98)2.94 (2.73, 3.20)0.0610.060

  1. Results are median (Q1, Q3). * ANOVA between Mer and Waiben. † ANCOVA between Mer and Waiben adjusted for age. ‡ analysis performed on log-transformed data. Abbreviations: MCP: Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein; MIP: Macrophage Inflammatory Protein.

Author response table 1
WaibenMerUnadjusted
p value
BMI
kg/m231.1 (25.8, 37.9)32.1 (25.5, 36.5)0.893
Underweight (<18.5)1 (2%)1 (2%)>0.99
Normal (18.5-24.9)11 (22%)11 (22%)>0.99
Overweight (25-29.9)9 (18%)9 (18%)>0.99
Obese (≥30)29 (58%)29 (58%)>0.99
Type 2 diabetes
Yes15 (30%)24 (48%)0.10

Additional files

Supplementary file 1

Intestinal microbiology shapes population health impacts of diet and lifestyle risk exposures in Torres Strait Islander communities: Supplementary files.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/58407/elife-58407-supp1-v1.docx
Transparent reporting form
https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/58407/elife-58407-transrepform-v1.docx
Reporting standard 1

STROBE checklist.

https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/58407/elife-58407-repstand1-v1.docx

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