Abstract P077: Midlife Physical Activity Is Associated With Gut Microbial Species And Metabolic Pathways: Coronary Artery Risk Development In Young Adults Study

Abstract

Background: Behavioral factors for cardiometabolic outcomes have been shown to influence the composition and function of the gut microbiota, which has been associated with cardiometabolic outcomes. Observational studies have documented associations between physical activity and gut microbial composition using 16S rRNA sequencing data, but there is a paucity of data on functional measures, which can be generated from whole-metagenomics sequencing (WMS). Methods: Data are from 480 CARDIA participants who attended the Year 30 follow-up exam (2015-2016, ages 48-60, 47:53 Black:White race, 47:53 male:female gender). Physical activity (exercise units) was estimated from reported frequency and duration of 13 activity types of at least moderate intensity during the previous year. Species, metabolic pathways, and enzyme families were assigned using standard reference databases. Multivariate measures of beta-diversity (between-person) was assessed with principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and tested with PERMANOVA. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression was used to test associations between distinct microbial features and physical activity, adjusting for false discovery rate (FDR). Results: Sequence data mapped to 105 species 1,307 enzyme families, and 318 metabolic pathways. Beta-diversity of species, but not for enzyme families or metabolic pathways, was significantly differentiated according to physical activity. In analysis of distinct microbial features, 7 species, 15 enzyme families, and 3 metabolic pathways were significantly associated with physical activity at an FDR-adjusted p-value of 0.10 (Table). Conclusion: These findings support associations between gut microbial features and physical activity in a middle-aged, bi-race population-based cohort. Although temporality cannot be established from these cross-sectional analyses, our results are consistent with data suggesting that physical activity may influence composition and function of the gut microbiota.