Gut microbiota, dietary intakes and intestinal permeability reflected by serum zonulin in women

• Published in: European journal of nutrition Vol. 57; no. 8; pp. 2985 - 2997
• Main Authors: Mörkl, S., Lackner, S., Meinitzer, A., Mangge, H., Lehofer, M., Halwachs, B., Gorkiewicz, G., Kashofer, K., Painold, A., Holl, A. K., Bengesser, S. A., Müller, W., Holzer, P., Holasek, S. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anorexia; Antigens; Biomarkers - blood; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cholera Toxin - blood; Cholesterol - blood; Data processing; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diet; Dietary Carbohydrates; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary intake; Dietary Proteins - administration & dosage; Digestive system; Discriminant analysis; DNA; Eating disorders; Electric Impedance; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gastrointestinal tract; Humans; Intestinal microflora; Intestine; Intestines - microbiology; Membrane permeability; Microbiomes; Microbiota; Mucosa; Nutrition; Nutrition Assessment; Obesity - blood; Obesity - microbiology; Original Contribution; Overweight; Overweight - blood; Overweight - microbiology; Permeability; rRNA 16S; Sodium; Triglycerides - blood; Vitamin B12; Womens health; Young Adult; Gut microbiota; Zonulin; Dietary intakes; Intestinal permeability; Diversity; Ruminococcaceae; Faecalibacterium
• ISSN: 1436-6207; 1436-6215
• DOI: 10.1007/s00394-018-1784-0

Purpose
Increased gut permeability causes the trespass of antigens into the blood stream which leads to inflammation. Gut permeability reflected by serum zonulin and diversity of the gut microbiome were investigated in this cross-sectional study involving female study participants with different activity and BMI levels.
Methods
102 women were included (BMI range 13.24–46.89 kg m
−2
): Anorexia nervosa patients (
n
 = 17), athletes (
n
 = 20), normal weight (
n
 = 25), overweight (
n
 = 21) and obese women (
n
 = 19). DNA was extracted from stool samples and subjected to 16S rRNA gene analysis (V1–V2). Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology (QIIME) was used to analyze data. Zonulin was measured with ELISA. Nutrient intake was assessed by repeated 24-h dietary recalls. We used the median of serum zonulin concentration to divide our participants into a “high-zonulin” (> 53.64 ng/ml) and “low-zonulin” (< 53.64 ng/ml) group.
Results
The alpha-diversity (Shannon Index, Simpson Index, equitability) and beta-diversity (unweighted and weighted UniFrac distances) of the gut microbiome were not significantly different between the groups. Zonulin concentrations correlated significantly with total calorie-, protein-, carbohydrate-, sodium- and vitamin B12 intake. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) identified
Ruminococcaceae
(LDA = 4.163,
p
 = 0.003) and
Faecalibacterium
(LDA = 4.151,
p
 = 0.0002) as significantly more abundant in the low zonulin group.
Conclusion
Butyrate-producing gut bacteria such as
Faecalibacteria
could decrease gut permeability and lower inflammation. The diversity of the gut microbiota in women does not seem to be correlated with the serum zonulin concentration. Further interventional studies are needed to investigate gut mucosal permeability and the gut microbiome in the context of dietary factors.