Relationship between Human Gut Microbiota and Nutrition Intake in Hypertensive Discordant Monozygotic Twins

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Intestinal bacteria digest substances, produce metabolites, and influence the host. Blood pressure increases with age, even in healthy people, and hypertension is said to affect one in four people worldwide. It is a major risk factor for stroke and stroke-related death. Although it is known that blood pressure is correlated with the ratio of Firmicutes and Bacteroides in gut microbiota and that the intake of peptides in fermented dairy products lowers blood pressure in humans, the relationship with the gut microbiota at the genus level is still inconsistent. Here, we aimed to examine the association between high blood pressure, gut microbiota, and nutrient intake by removing gender, age, and genetic effects. Materials and Methods: We selected hypertensive discordant Japanese monozygotic twins and confirmed their zygosity by matching 15 short tandem repeat loci. Their fecal samples were subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatics analyses to identify and compare fluctuations in intestinal bacteria. Results: Four genera were extracted by comparing age- and gender-unified hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups, and 15 genera: Actinomyces, Butyricicoccus, Coprobacter, Coprococcus 1, Eubacterium fissicatena group, Eubacterium rectale group, Eubacterium ruminantium group, Eubacterium eligens group, Lachnospira, Prevotellaceae UCG 001, Ruminiclostridium 9, Ruminococcaceae NK 4A 214 group, Ruminococcaceae UCG 004, Ruminococcaceae UCG 005 and Ruminococcaceae UCG 014 were extracted by focusing on differences between pairs to account for genetic effects. The correlation between the 15 hypertension-associated bacteria extracted and nutrient intake showed that most minerals, vitamins, and lipids, including plant fatty acids, had a negative correlation with Actinomyces, while some had a positive correlation with the Eubacterium rectale group. Conclusions: When comparing monozygotic twins with hypertension discordance, age, sex, and genetic factors were excluded, and 15 hypertension-related genera were extracted, including Actinomyces and Eubacterium rectale group, which were associated with several nutrients