Fecal Bile Acids and Neutral Sterols Are Associated with Latent Microbial Subgroups in the Human Gut
Taylor A. Breuninger,
Nina Wawro,
Dennis Freuer,
Sandra Reitmeier,
Anna Artati,
Harald Grallert,
Jerzy Adamski,
Christa Meisinger,
Annette Peters,
Dirk Haller,
Jakob Linseisen
Affiliations
Taylor A. Breuninger
Chair of Epidemiology, University Hospital Augsburg, University of Augsburg, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Nina Wawro
Chair of Epidemiology, University Hospital Augsburg, University of Augsburg, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Dennis Freuer
Chair of Epidemiology, University Hospital Augsburg, University of Augsburg, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Sandra Reitmeier
Chair of Nutrition and Immunology, Technische Universität München, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
Anna Artati
Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Metabolomics and Proteomics Core, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Harald Grallert
Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Institute of Epidemiology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Jerzy Adamski
Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Christa Meisinger
Chair of Epidemiology, University Hospital Augsburg, University of Augsburg, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Annette Peters
Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Institute of Epidemiology, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Dirk Haller
Chair of Nutrition and Immunology, Technische Universität München, Gregor-Mendel-Str. 2, 85354 Freising, Germany
Jakob Linseisen
Chair of Epidemiology, University Hospital Augsburg, University of Augsburg, Stenglinstr. 2, 86156 Augsburg, Germany
Bile acids, neutral sterols, and the gut microbiome are intricately intertwined and each affects human health and metabolism. However, much is still unknown about this relationship. This analysis included 1280 participants of the KORA FF4 study. Fecal metabolites (primary and secondary bile acids, plant and animal sterols) were analyzed using a metabolomics approach. Dirichlet regression models were used to evaluate associations between the metabolites and twenty microbial subgroups that were previously identified using latent Dirichlet allocation. Significant associations were identified between 12 of 17 primary and secondary bile acids and several of the microbial subgroups. Three subgroups showed largely positive significant associations with bile acids, and six subgroups showed mostly inverse associations with fecal bile acids. We identified a trend where microbial subgroups that were previously associated with “healthy” factors were here inversely associated with fecal bile acid levels. Conversely, subgroups that were previously associated with “unhealthy” factors were positively associated with fecal bile acid levels. These results indicate that further research is necessary regarding bile acids and microbiota composition, particularly in relation to metabolic health.
