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Simpson AMR, De Souza MJ, Damani J, Rogers CJ, Williams NI, Weaver CM, Ferruzzi MG, Nakatsu CH. Gut microbes differ in postmenopausal women responding to prunes to maintain hip bone mineral density. Front Nutr 2024; 11:1389638. [PMID: 38706560 PMCID: PMC11067506 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1389638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Foods high in phenolics such as prunes have been shown to exert protective effects on bone mineral density (BMD), but only certain individuals experience these benefits. This post-hoc analysis of a 12-month randomized controlled trial aimed to identify the relationship among the gut microbiome, immune responses, and bone protective effects of prunes on postmenopausal women. Subjects who consumed 50-100 g prunes daily were divided into responders (n = 20) and non-responders (n = 32) based on percent change in total hip bone mineral density (BMD, ≥1% or ≤-1% change, respectively). DXA scans were used to determine body composition and BMD. Immune markers were measured using immunoassays and flow cytometry. Targeted phenolic metabolites were analyzed using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The fecal microbiota was characterized through 16S rRNA gene PCR amplicon sequencing. After 12 months of prune consumption, anti-inflammatory markers showed responders had significantly lower levels of IL-1β and TNF-α. QIIME2 sequence analysis showed that microbiomes of responders and non-responders differed in alpha (Shannon and Faith PD, Kruskal-Wallis p < 0.05) and beta diversity (unweighted Unifrac, PERMANOVA p < 0.04) metrics both before and after prune treatment. Furthermore, responders had a higher abundance of bacterial families Oscillospiraceae and Lachnospiraceae (ANCOM-BC p < 0.05). These findings provide evidence that postmenopausal women with initial low BMD can benefit from prunes if they host certain gut microbes. These insights can guide precision nutrition strategies to improve BMD tailored to diet and microbiome composition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mary Jane De Souza
- Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, College Park, PA, United States
| | - Janhavi Damani
- Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Integrative and Biomedical Physiology, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, College Park, PA, United States
| | - Connie J Rogers
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, College Park, PA, United States
| | - Nancy I Williams
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, College Park, PA, United States
| | - Connie M Weaver
- School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Mario G Ferruzzi
- Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States
| | - Cindy H Nakatsu
- Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
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Leonard LM, Simpson AMR, Li S, Reddivari L, Cross TWL. A Gnotobiotic Mouse Model with Divergent Equol-Producing Phenotypes: Potential for Determining Microbial-Driven Health Impacts of Soy Isoflavone Daidzein. Nutrients 2024; 16:1079. [PMID: 38613113 PMCID: PMC11013052 DOI: 10.3390/nu16071079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The implications of soy consumption on human health have been a subject of debate, largely due to the mixed evidence regarding its benefits and potential risks. The variability in responses to soy has been partly attributed to differences in the metabolism of soy isoflavones, compounds with structural similarities to estrogen. Approximately one-third of humans possess gut bacteria capable of converting soy isoflavone daidzein into equol, a metabolite produced exclusively by gut microbiota with significant estrogenic potency. In contrast, lab-raised rodents are efficient equol producers, except for those raised germ-free. This discrepancy raises concerns about the applicability of traditional rodent models to humans. Herein, we designed a gnotobiotic mouse model to differentiate between equol producers and non-producers by introducing synthetic bacterial communities with and without the equol-producing capacity into female and male germ-free mice. These gnotobiotic mice display equol-producing phenotypes consistent with the capacity of the gut microbiota received. Our findings confirm the model's efficacy in mimicking human equol production capacity, offering a promising tool for future studies to explore the relationship between endogenous equol production and health outcomes like cardiometabolic health and fertility. This approach aims to refine dietary guidelines by considering individual microbiome differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsay M. Leonard
- Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (L.M.L.); (A.M.R.S.)
| | - Abigayle M. R. Simpson
- Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (L.M.L.); (A.M.R.S.)
| | - Shiyu Li
- Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (S.L.); (L.R.)
| | - Lavanya Reddivari
- Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (S.L.); (L.R.)
| | - Tzu-Wen L. Cross
- Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; (L.M.L.); (A.M.R.S.)
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Cross TWL, Simpson AMR, Lin CY, Hottmann NM, Bhatt AP, Pellock SJ, Nelson ER, Loman BR, Wallig MA, Vivas EI, Suchodolski J, Redinbo MR, Rey FE, Swanson KS. Gut microbiome responds to alteration in female sex hormone status and exacerbates metabolic dysfunction. Gut Microbes 2024; 16:2295429. [PMID: 38153260 PMCID: PMC10761013 DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2295429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Women are at significantly greater risk of metabolic dysfunction after menopause, which subsequently leads to numerous chronic illnesses. The gut microbiome is associated with obesity and metabolic dysfunction, but its interaction with female sex hormone status and the resulting impact on host metabolism remains unclear. Herein, we characterized inflammatory and metabolic phenotypes as well as the gut microbiome associated with ovariectomy and high-fat diet feeding, compared to gonadal intact and low-fat diet controls. We then performed fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) using gnotobiotic mice to identify the impact of ovariectomy-associated gut microbiome on inflammatory and metabolic outcomes. We demonstrated that ovariectomy led to greater gastrointestinal permeability and inflammation of the gut and metabolic organs, and that a high-fat diet exacerbated these phenotypes. Ovariectomy also led to alteration of the gut microbiome, including greater fecal β-glucuronidase activity. However, differential changes in the gut microbiome only occurred when fed a low-fat diet, not the high-fat diet. Gnotobiotic mice that received the gut microbiome from ovariectomized mice fed the low-fat diet had greater weight gain and hepatic gene expression related to metabolic dysfunction and inflammation than those that received intact sham control-associated microbiome. These results indicate that the gut microbiome responds to alterations in female sex hormone status and contributes to metabolic dysfunction. Identifying and developing gut microbiome-targeted modulators to regulate sex hormones may be useful therapeutically in remediating menopause-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tzu-Wen L. Cross
- Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | | | - Ching-Yen Lin
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Natasha M. Hottmann
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Aadra P. Bhatt
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Samuel J. Pellock
- Departments of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Microbiology & Immunology, and The Integrated Program for Biological and Genome Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Erik R. Nelson
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology-Anticancer Discovery from Pets to People, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Brett R. Loman
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Matthew A. Wallig
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Eugenio I. Vivas
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jan Suchodolski
- Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Matthew R. Redinbo
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Departments of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Microbiology & Immunology, and The Integrated Program for Biological and Genome Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Federico E. Rey
- Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Kelly S. Swanson
- Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
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Abstract
Consuming polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables, including blueberries, is associated with beneficial health outcomes. Interest in enhancing polyphenol intakes via dietary supplements has grown, though differences in fruit versus supplement matrix on gut microbiota and ultimate phenolic metabolism to bioactive metabolites are unknown. To evaluate this, 5-month-old, ovariectomized, Sprague-Dawley rats were gavaged for 90 d with a purified extract of blueberry polyphenols (0, 50, 250, or 1000 mg total polyphenols per kg bw per d) or lyophilized blueberries (50 mg total polyphenols per kg bw per d, equivalent to 150 g fresh blueberries per day in humans). Urine, feces, and tissues were assessed for gut microbiota and phenolic metabolism. Significant dose- and food matrix-dependent effects were observed at all endpoints measured. Gut microbial populations showed increased diversity at moderate doses but decreased diversity at high doses. Urinary phenolic metabolites were primarily observed as microbially derived metabolites and underwent extensive host xenobiotic phase II metabolism. Thus, blueberry polyphenols in fruit and supplements induce differences in gut microbial communities and phenolic metabolism, which may alter intended health effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis P Cladis
- Dept. of Food Science, Purdue University, 745 Agriculture Mall Dr, W Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
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