Abstract
BackgroundThe gut micro flora plays vital role in health status of the host. The majority of microbes residing in the gut have a profound influence on human physiology and nutrition. Different human ethnic groups vary in genetic makeup as well as the environmental conditions they live in. The gut flora changes with genetic makeup and environmental factors and hence it is necessary to understand the composition of gut flora of different ethnic groups. Indian population is different in physiology from western population (YY paradox) and thus the gut flora in Indian population is likely to differ from the extensively studied gut flora in western population. In this study we have investigated the gut flora of two Indian families, each with three individuals belonging to successive generations and living under the same roof.ResultsDenaturation gradient gel electrophoresis analysis showed age-dependant variation in gut microflora amongst the individuals within a family. Different bacterial genera were dominant in the individual of varying age in clone library analysis. Obligate anaerobes isolated from individuals within a family showed age related differences in isolation pattern, with 27% (6 out of 22) of the isolates being potential novel species based on 16S rRNA gene sequence. In qPCR a consistent decrease in Firmicutes number and increase in Bacteroidetes number with increasing age was observed in our subjects, this pattern of change in Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes ratio with age is different than previously reported in European population.ConclusionThere is change in gut flora with age amongst the individuals within a family. The isolation of high percent of novel bacterial species and the pattern of change in Firmicutes /Bacteroidetes ratio with age suggests that the composition of gut flora in Indian individuals may be different than the western population. Thus, further extensive study is needed to define the gut flora in Indian population.
Highlights
The gut micro flora plays vital role in health status of the host
Different bacterial species were isolated from different aged individuals with infant showing the least diversity with 4 isolates being Parabacteroides distasonis and 1 isolate being Bifidobacterium adolscentis
The isolates from samples S1 and S3 belonged to genus Bacteriodes, Clostridium, Parabacteroides; while Megasphaera elsdenii was isolated from S3 only.This suggests that there is difference in culturable anaerobic bacteria diversity with age within individuals in a family
Summary
The gut micro flora plays vital role in health status of the host. The majority of microbes residing in the gut have a profound influence on human physiology and nutrition. Different human ethnic groups vary in genetic makeup as well as the environmental conditions they live in. The gut flora changes with genetic makeup and environmental factors and it is necessary to understand the composition of gut flora of different ethnic groups. The gut micro flora plays an important role in health status of the host as it contributes to overall metabolism and plays a role in converting food into nutrients and energy [1]. The composition and activity of indigenous gut microbiota are of paramount importance in the health of individual and describing the complexity of gut flora is important for defining its effect on human health. Changes in Firmicutes / Bacteroidetes ratio have been reported in other physiological conditions such as ageing and diabetes [18,19]
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