Abstract 022: Association Of Nutritionally-Rich Plant-Centered Diets With Gut Microbial Diversity And Composition Columbia Heart Failure-Microbiome Study

Abstract

Introduction: A plant-centered diet is related to lower risk of cardiovascular disease. However, its association with the gut microbiome has not been well studied in populations with heart failure (HF), and mechanisms linking diet to improved outcomes among HF patients are poorly understood. Hypothesis: Consuming a more nutritionally-rich plant-centered diet is associated with increased microbial alpha diversity and with favorable taxonomic composition and features as compared to consuming less plant-centered diets. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 152 patients with NYHA class I-IV HF with reduced ejection fraction. Diet was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Plant-centered diet quality was evaluated using A Priori Diet Quality Score (APDQS) and the APDQS was classified into quintiles; high scores were characterized by higher consumption of nutritionally-rich plant foods with lower consumption of high-fat meats and unhealthy plant foods. Stool samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Associations of the APDQS with alpha (Shannon Index and Inverse Simpson) and beta diversity (defined via Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index) were evaluated by linear regression and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA), respectively. Negative-binomial regressions using DESeq2 were used to study the association between the APDQS and the relative abundance of specific taxa at the phylum and genus levels. Adjustments for multiple comparisons were performed using the false discovery rate. Results: Mean Shannon Index and Inverse Simpson values were 6.28±0.5 and 407.7±183.37, respectively. Among patients aged <61y, after multivariable adjustment, the APDQS (per 12 units) was associated with higher Shannon Index (0.13±0.05; P for slope=0.007) and Inverse Simpson (46.87±15.5; P for slope=0.004); no associations were observed among those aged ≥ 61y (P for interaction <0.05 for each). APDQS quintiles were not associated with beta-diversity (PERMANOVA, P=0.54). At the genus level, the highest quintile of the ADPQS (vs the lowest quintile) was associated with higher abundance of Enterobacter and lower abundance of Catenibacterium. Conclusions: Consuming nutritionally-rich plant-centered diets was significantly associated with higher gut microbiota diversity in younger HF patients, as well as significantly higher or lower abundance of certain bacterial taxa at the genus level.