Gut microbiota community characteristics and disease-related microorganism pattern in a population of healthy Chinese people

Wen Zhang,Qing Zhang,Yujun Qiang,Ling Zhang,Shan Lu,Jiaojiao Miao,Peng Xu ,Qun Li,Ming Hu,Tongxin Gao,Tingting Zhang,Xiaofei Zhao,Yuqing Liu,Xia Chen,Hong Wang,Yanhua Kong,Jie Che,Xi Chen,Ning Han ,Juan Li,Xiuwen Li,Biao Kan

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36318-y

Abstract

China’s population accounts for about 1/5th of the world’s total population. Owing to differences in environment, race, living habits, and other factors, the structure of the intestinal flora of Chinese individuals is expected to have unique features; however, this has not been thoroughly examined. Here, we collected faecal samples from healthy adults living in three cities of China and investigated their gut microbiome using metagenomics and bioinformatics technology. We found that 11 core bacterial genera were present in all of the Chinese faecal samples; moreover, several patient characteristics (age, region, body mass index, physical exercise, smoking habits, and alcoholic drink, and yogurt consumption) were found to have different effects on the gut microbiome of healthy Chinese people. We also examined the distribution patterns of disease-related microorganisms (DRMs), revealing which DRMs can potentially be used as markers for assessment of health risk. We also developed a program called “Guthealthy” for evaluating the health status associated with the microbiome and DRM pattern in the faecal samples. The microbiota data obtained in this study will provide a basis for a healthy gut microbiome composition in the Chinese population.

Highlights

Gut microbiota disorders have proven to be symptomatic or indicative of a predisposing cause to several diseases, such as allergies, obesity, diabetes, and even mental illness, and appear to affect cancer immunotherapy treatment[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
This study, geared towards Chinese people, focused on determining the characteristics of intestinal flora in healthy Chinese people, and we found that there are 12 core bacterial genera in Chinese faecal samples, as well as several factors that affect the gut microbiome of healthy Chinese people
This study examined the distribution pattern of disease-related microorganisms (DRMs) within healthy Chinese people, and our investigation showed that among 182 DRM, 80 species (Group 1 DRM) were not found in any samples from healthy Chinese people and could be directly used as a health risk marker when evaluating patient health status from clinical samples via the self-developed program “Guthealthy,” With the help of this information, we have advanced the understanding of what defines a healthy gut for Chinese people

Summary

Introduction

Gut microbiota disorders have proven to be symptomatic or indicative of a predisposing cause to several diseases, such as allergies, obesity, diabetes, and even mental illness, and appear to affect cancer immunotherapy treatment[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Owing to differences in environment, race, living habits, and other factors, the structure of the intestinal flora of Chinese individuals is expected to have unique features; this has not yet been thoroughly and fully www.nature.com/scientificreports/. Since 2016, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) has investigated healthy Chinese people and their gut microbiome, including through an epidemiological survey in multiple regions, faecal sampling from healthy people, and an examination of the microbiome using metagenomics and bioinformatics technology. A report on the current research results is summarised to clarify the characteristics of intestinal flora in healthy Chinese people and to evaluate the influence of different life factors, as well as the distribution pattern of disease-related microorganisms (DRMs) in healthy Chinese people

Methods

Results

Conclusion