Abstract
Vitamin D deficiency affects approximately 80% of individuals in some countries and has been linked with gut dysbiosis and inflammation. While the benefits of vitamin D supplementation on the gut microbiota have been studied in patients with chronic diseases, its effects on the microbiota of otherwise healthy individuals is unclear. Moreover, whether effects on the microbiota can explain some of the marked inter-individual variation in responsiveness to vitamin D supplementation is unknown. Here, we administered vitamin D to 80 otherwise healthy vitamin D-deficient women, measuring serum 25(OH) D levels in blood and characterizing their gut microbiota pre- and post- supplementation using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Vitamin D supplementation significantly increased gut microbial diversity. Specifically, the Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes ratio increased, along with the abundance of the health-promoting probiotic taxa Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium. Significant variations in the two-dominant genera, Bacteroides and Prevotella, indicated a variation in enterotypes following supplementation. Comparing supplementation responders and non-responders we found more pronounced changes in abundance of major phyla in responders, and a significant decrease in Bacteroides acidifaciens in non-responders. Altogether, our study highlights the positive impact of vitamin D supplementation on the gut microbiota and the potential for the microbial gut signature to affect vitamin D response.
Highlights
Vitamin D is a lipid-soluble vitamin that is absorbed from dietary sources or supplements in the proximal small intestine[1], and is essential for maintaining skeletal integrity and function[2], as well as for electrolyte r eabsorption[3], and immune system r egulation[4]
These results suggest that lower baseline levels of B. acidifaciens prior to vitamin D supplementation, combined with its continued depletion post supplementation may be indicative of poor response to vitamin D
We wanted to assess whether any characteristics of the gut microbiota were linked with the response to vitamin D supplementation
Summary
Vitamin D is a lipid-soluble vitamin that is absorbed from dietary sources or supplements in the proximal small intestine[1], and is essential for maintaining skeletal integrity and function[2], as well as for electrolyte r eabsorption[3], and immune system r egulation[4]. Sub-clinical vitamin D deficiency is common, affecting close to 40% of individuals in both the U S5 and Europe[6], as well as 80–85% of people living in Arab c ountries[7,8,9,10]. Studies suggest that the amount of dietary vitamin D and its circulating levels may be involved in maintaining immune homeostasis in healthy individuals, partially via modulating the gut microbial c omposition[22]. It is currently unknown how supplementing otherwise-healthy vitamin D-deficient people affects their gut microbiota. Given the evidenced bi-directional interaction between vitamin D and the gut microbiota in inflammation, we hypothesized that the composition of the gut microbiota might affect responsiveness to vitamin D intake
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