Consumption of Mediterranean versus Western Diet Leads to Distinct Mammary Gland Microbiome Populations

• Published in: Cell reports (Cambridge) Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 47 - 56.e3
• Main Authors: Shively, Carol A., Register, Thomas C., Appt, Susan E., Clarkson, Thomas B., Uberseder, Beth, Clear, Kenysha Y.J., Wilson, Adam S., Chiba, Akiko, Tooze, Janet A., Cook, Katherine L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 02-10-2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; bile acid; breast; diet; Diet, Mediterranean; Diet, Western; Female; Haplorhini; hippurate; mammary gland; Mammary Glands, Animal - metabolism; Mammary Glands, Animal - microbiology; microbiome; Microbiota; oxidative stress; hippurate; bile acid; mammary gland; diet; breast; microbiome; oxidative stress
• ISSN: 2211-1247; 2211-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.08.078

Recent identification of a mammary gland-specific microbiome led to studies investigating bacteria populations in breast cancer. Malignant breast tumors have lower Lactobacillus abundance compared with benign lesions, implicating Lactobacillus as a negative regulator of breast cancer. Diet is a main determinant of gut microbial diversity. Whether diet affects breast microbiome populations is unknown. In a non-human primate model, we found that consumption of a Western or Mediterranean diet modulated mammary gland microbiota and metabolite profiles. Mediterranean diet consumption led to increased mammary gland Lactobacillus abundance compared with Western diet-fed monkeys. Moreover, mammary glands from Mediterranean diet-fed monkeys had higher levels of bile acid metabolites and increased bacterial-processed bioactive compounds. These data suggest that diet directly influences microbiome populations outside the intestinal tract in distal sites such as the mammary gland. Our study demonstrates that diet affects the mammary gland microbiome, establishing an alternative mechanistic pathway for breast cancer prevention.
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•Diet modulates mammary gland microbiota populations in a non-human primate model•Consumption of Mediterranean diet elevates mammary gland Lactobacillus abundance•Mediterranean diet increases breast bile acid and bacterial-modified metabolites•Consumption of Mediterranean diet decreases reactive oxygen species metabolites
Using a non-human primate model of women’s health, Shively et al. demonstrate that diet plays a critical role in determining microbiota populations in tissues outside the gut, such as the mammary gland. These microbial populations modulate localized bile acid and bacterial-modified metabolites to potentially influence anticancer signaling pathways.