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DDW 2023: Gut Microbiome Fluctuates Daily, Seasonally
Fluctuations in gut microbiome were observed in people around the world
MONDAY, May 15, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The gut microbiome experiences seasonal and diurnal fluctuations, according to research findings presented at the 2023 Digestive Disease Week, held from May 6 to 9 in Chicago.
“Microbes are highly dynamic and are constantly changing,” Carolina Dantas Machado, Ph.D., of the University of California in San Diego, told Elsevier’s PracticeUpdate. “From animal studies, we know that the gut microbiota display 24-hour cycles, and that these can impact host health. There is also evidence that these rhythms can happen in humans, but most studies on microbiome fluctuations to date had been done in localized or well-defined populations.”
Dantas Machado and colleagues evaluated gut microbiome oscillations using data from the American Gut Project. The analysis included 19,335 stool samples from adult humans. The researchers used cosinor-based rhythmometry to analyze diurnal oscillations and general additive mixed models to analyze seasonal oscillations.
They observed both diurnal and seasonal gut microbiome rhythms. The diurnal oscillations happened at various taxonomic levels: Approximately 57 percent of phyla displayed 24-hour gut microbiome cycles. The researchers also observed widespread seasonal microbiome oscillations, with some taxa following one of two distinct annual patterns. The researchers noted that the rhythms were identified worldwide.
“We need to be aware that the microbiome is highly dynamic and displays fluctuations based on the time of the day and time of the year,” Dantas Machado told Elsevier’s PracticeUpdate. “Hence, when we are dealing with human data that could be related to the microbiome (for example, studies that assess gut microbiome based on a specific health condition or a specific medication that is metabolized by bacteria), it is important to consider the time-dependent component of the gut microbiome.”
