Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; SAHMRI Microbiome Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia
Lex EX Leong
Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia
Fintan Thompson
Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia
Sean M Taylor
Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia
Linton R Harriss
Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia
Jocelyn M Choo
Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; SAHMRI Microbiome Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia
Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; SAHMRI Microbiome Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia
Steve L Wesselingh
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia
Robyn McDermott
Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia; School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, United States; Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Geraint B Rogers
Microbiome and Host Health Programme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; SAHMRI Microbiome Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia
Poor diet and lifestyle exposures are implicated in substantial global increases in non-communicable disease burden in low-income, remote, and Indigenous communities. This observational study investigated the contribution of the fecal microbiome to influence host physiology in two Indigenous communities in the Torres Strait Islands: Mer, a remote island where a traditional diet predominates, and Waiben a more accessible island with greater access to takeaway food and alcohol. Counterintuitively, disease markers were more pronounced in Mer residents. However, island-specific differences in disease risk were explained, in part, by microbiome traits. The absence of Alistipes onderdonkii, for example, significantly (p=0.014) moderated island-specific patterns of systolic blood pressure in multivariate-adjusted models. We also report mediatory relationships between traits of the fecal metagenome, disease markers, and risk exposures. Understanding how intestinal microbiome traits influence response to disease risk exposures is critical for the development of strategies that mitigate the growing burden of cardiometabolic disease in these communities.
