Fat, fibre and cancer risk in African Americans and rural Africans
Open accessAbstract
Rates of colon cancer are much higher in African Americans (65:100,000) than in rural South Africans (<5:100,000). The higher rates are associated with higher animal protein and fat, and lower fibre consumption, higher colonic secondary bile acids, lower colonic short-chain fatty acid quantities and higher mucosal proliferative biomarkers of cancer risk in otherwise healthy middle-aged volunteers. Here we investigate further the role of fat and fibre in this association. We performed 2-week food exchanges in subjects from the same populations, where African Americans were fed a high-fibre, low-fat African-style diet and rural Africans a high-fat, low-fibre western-style diet, under close supervision. In comparison with their usual diets, the food changes resulted in remarkable reciprocal changes in mucosal biomarkers of cancer risk and in aspects of the microbiota and metabolome known to affect cancer risk, best illustrated by increased saccharolytic fermentation and butyrogenesis, and suppressed secondary bile acid synthesis in the African Americans. African Americans have much higher colon cancer rates than rural South Africans, which is associated with dietary and metabolic differences. Here, O’Keefe et al.show that switching quantities of fat and fibre leads to reciprocal changes in gut microbiota, metabolites and cancer biomarkers.
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A two-week food exchange between African Americans and rural Africans changed the microbiota and cancer risk markers.
“A 2-week food exchange study in which African Americans consumed a rural African diet and rural Africans ate a typical African American diet revealed measurable changes to the microbiota and markers of cancer risk despite the brevity of the dietary intervention (O’Keefe et al., 2015).”
From Gut-microbiota-targeted diets modulate human immune status (2021) · cites this paper as O’Keefe et al., 2015
Some but not all cross-sectional studies associated higher fiber intake with increased fecal short-chain fatty acid levels and enrichment of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria such as Eubacterium rectale, Roseburia spp., and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii.
“Some but not all cross-sectional studies associated higher fiber intake with increased fecal levels of SCFAs and enrichment of SCFA-producing bacteria, such as Eubacterium rectale, Roseburia spp., and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii.126, 127”
From Influence of the Gut Microbiome, Diet, and Environment on Risk of Colorectal Cancer (2020) · cites this paper as [126]
An animal-based diet increases the abundance of bile-tolerant microorganisms (Alistipes, Bilophila and Bacteroides) and decreases the levels of Firmicutes that metabolise dietary plant polysaccharides (Roseburia, Eubacterium rectale and Ruminococcus bromii).
“an animal-based diet increases the abundance of bile-tolerant microorganisms (Alistipes, Bilophila and Bacteroides) and decreases the levels of Firmicutes that metabolise dietary plant polysaccharides (Roseburia, Eubacterium rectale and Ruminococcus bromii).105 106”
From The gut microbiota and host health: a new clinical frontier (2016) · cites this paper as [106]
In a 2-week diet swap study, changes in abundances of Bacteroides or Prevotella genera were not observed, but high-fiber, low-fat diets enriched bacterial genes for butyrate production and decreased genes for secondary bile acid synthesis.
“While changes in abundances of Bacteroides or Prevotella genera were not observed in either group, the high-fiber, low-fat diets enriched bacterial genes for butyrate production and decreased genes for secondary bile acid synthesis, emphasizing the importance of identifying functional rather than compositional shifts.”
From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [207]
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References 70 · Cited by 982
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [2]Le Marchand LKL Cancer among Japanese migrants to Hawaii: Gene-environment interactions. Rev Epidemiol Santé Publique 1992 40 425 430 1287741
- Authors
- O’Keefe, S. J. D., Li, J. V., Lahti, L., Ou, J., Carbonero, F., Mohammed, K., Posma, J. M., Kinross, J., Wahl, E., Ruder, E., Vipperla, K., Naidoo, V., Mtshali, L., Tims, S., Puylaert, P. G. B., DeLany, J., Krasinskas, A., Benefiel, A. C., Kaseb, H. O., Newton, K., Nicholson, J. K., de Vos, W. M., Gaskins, H. R., & Zoetendal, E. G.
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Corresponding author
- O’Keefe, Stephen J. D.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2015-04-28
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 6342-6342
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4415091
- OpenAlex
- W2144494558
- Cited by
- 982
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 51 · 2025: 81 · 2024: 82 · 2023: 95 · 2022: 106 · 2021: 109 · 2020: 104 · 2019: 87 · 2018: 99 · 2017: 89 · 2016: 62 · 2015: 17
- FWCI
- 38.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
- Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Pittsburgh (UL1TR000005, UL1RR024153, RR024153)
- NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust/Institute of Cancer Research
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS-SGCL8-Kinross)
- Imperial College London
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Academy of Finland (141140, 256950)
- Gladstone Ports Corporation
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000005, UL1-TR- 000005, RR024153, UL1RR024153 and UL1TR000005)
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA135379)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024153)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (250172)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Food composition and properties
- Keywords
- colon cancer risk, dietary fat, dietary fiber, African Americans, gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids, secondary bile acids, metabolome, animal protein, cross-cultural comparison
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Black or African American, Colon, Colonic Neoplasms, Dietary Fiber, Feces, Humans, Inflammation, Intestinal Mucosa, Middle Aged, Rural Population, South Africa, Urine, Biomarkers, Diet, Fat-Restricted, Metabolome, Diet, High-Fat, Microbiota, Healthy Volunteers
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