The fecal microbiotas of women of Pacific and New Zealand European ethnicities are characterized by distinctive enterotypes that reflect dietary intakes and fecal water content

ABSTRACT

Obesity is a complex, multifactorial condition that is an important risk factor for noncommunicable diseases including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. While prevention and management require a healthy and energy balanced diet and adequate physical activity, the taxonomic composition and functional attributes of the colonic microbiota may have a supplementary role in the development of obesity. The taxonomic composition and metabolic capacity of the fecal microbiota of 286 women, resident in Auckland New Zealand, was determined by metagenomic analysis. Associations with BMI (obese, nonobese), body fat composition, and ethnicity (Pacific, n = 125; NZ European women [NZE], n = 161) were assessed using regression analyses. The fecal microbiotas were characterized by the presence of three distinctive enterotypes, with enterotype 1 represented in both Pacific and NZE women (39 and 61%, respectively), enterotype 2 mainly in Pacific women (84 and 16%) and enterotype 3 mainly in NZE women (13 and 87%). Enterotype 1 was characterized mainly by the relative abundances of butyrate producing species, Eubacterium rectale and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, enterotype 2 by the relative abundances of lactic acid producing species, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Lactobacillus ruminis, and enterotype 3 by the relative abundances of Subdoligranulum sp., Akkermansia muciniphila, Ruminococcus bromii, and Methanobrevibacter smithii. Enterotypes were also associated with BMI, visceral fat %, and blood cholesterol. Habitual food group intake was estimated using a 5 day nonconsecutive estimated food record and a 30 day, 220 item semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire. Higher intake of ‘egg’ and ‘dairy’ products was associated with enterotype 3, whereas ‘non-starchy vegetables’, ‘nuts and seeds’ and ‘plant-based fats’ were positively associated with enterotype 1. In contrast, these same food groups were inversely associated with enterotype 2. Fecal water content, as a proxy for stool consistency/colonic transit time, was associated with microbiota taxonomic composition and gene pools reflective of particular bacterial biochemical pathways. The fecal microbiotas of women of Pacific and New Zealand European ethnicities are characterized by distinctive enterotypes, most likely due to differential dietary intake and fecal consistency/colonic transit time. These parameters need to be considered in future analyses of human fecal microbiotas.

KEYWORDS:

• Fecal microbiota
• enterotypes
• dietary intake
• fecal water content
• obesity

Acknowledgments

The PROMISE study was funded by the Health Research Council (HRC) of New Zealand. NR was supported by a PhD scholarship provided by the Riddet Institute, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. The authors would like to thank all the volunteers who participated in the PROMISE study, including staff and students who participated in recruitment and data collection. Joanne Slater, Niamh Brennan, Sophie Kindleysides and Moana Manukia played key roles in participant recruitment, coordination, and data acquisition of the PROMISE study. Elizabeth Cullen, Bronte Anscombe, Ashleigh Jackson, Owen Mugridge, Shakeela Jayasinghe, Sherina Holland, and Ridvan Firestone provided support during data acquisition and tabulation.

Disclosure statement

There are no competing interests.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2023.2178801

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Authors’ contributions: NR, PhD student; BL, GWT, supervision of microbiota analysis; TV, metabolic capacity analysis; BM, JD, MC, supervision of statistical analysis; LTM, BM, RK, BB supervision of nutritional analysis; NR and GWT wrote the manuscript with input from other authors.