Cited by 340Gut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disordersProbiotics and Fermented Foods

Intestinal Microbiota in Healthy Adults: Temporal Analysis Reveals Individual and Common Core and Relation to Intestinal Symptoms

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Jalanka-Tuovinen, Jonna, Salonen, Anne, Nikkilä, Janne, Immonen, Outi, Kekkonen, Riina, Lahti, Leo, Palva, Airi, de Vos, Willem M.·2011·PLoS ONE

Abstract

BACKGROUND: While our knowledge of the intestinal microbiota during disease is accumulating, basic information of the microbiota in healthy subjects is still scarce. The aim of this study was to characterize the intestinal microbiota of healthy adults and specifically address its temporal stability, core microbiota and relation with intestinal symptoms. We carried out a longitudinal study by following a set of 15 healthy Finnish subjects for seven weeks and regularly assessed their intestinal bacteria and archaea with the Human Intestinal Tract (HIT) Chip, a phylogenetic microarray, in conjunction with qPCR analyses. The health perception and occurrence of intestinal symptoms was recorded by questionnaire at each sampling point. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A high overall temporal stability of the microbiota was observed. Five subjects showed transient microbiota destabilization, which correlated not only with the intake of antibiotics but also with overseas travelling and temporary illness, expanding the hitherto known factors affecting the intestinal microbiota. We identified significant correlations between the microbiota and common intestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain and bloating. The most striking finding was the inverse correlation between Bifidobacteria and abdominal pain: subjects who experienced pain had over five-fold less Bifidobacteria compared to those without pain. Finally, a novel computational approach was used to define the common core microbiota, highlighting the role of the analysis depth in finding the phylogenetic core and estimating its size. The in-depth analysis suggested that we share a substantial number of our intestinal phylotypes but as they represent highly variable proportions of the total community, many of them often remain undetected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A global and high-resolution microbiota analysis was carried out to determine the temporal stability, the associations with intestinal symptoms, and the individual and common core microbiota in healthy adults. The findings provide new approaches to define intestinal health and to further characterize the microbial communities inhabiting the human gut.

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  • A strong association was evident between protein intake and Bacteroides, and in particular Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae, in explaining community diversity.

    “A strong association was evident between protein intake and Bacteroides and, in particular, Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae, two of the most abundant families in human gut environments [188], in explaining community diversity.”

    From The athletic gut microbiota (2020) · cites this paper as [188]

  • Higher Bifidobacterium abundance was inversely associated with abdominal pain and intestinal discomfort in a longitudinal study in healthy individuals.

    “These correlations are in agreement with previous findings from a longitudinal study in healthy individuals, where higher Bifidobacterium abundance was inversely associated with abdominal pain and intestinal discomfort.”

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Authors
Jalanka-Tuovinen, J., Salonen, A., Nikkilä, J., Immonen, O., Kekkonen, R., Lahti, L., Palva, A., & de Vos, W. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • Valio (Finland) (FI)
Corresponding author
Salonen, Anne
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2011-07-28
Volume
6
Issue
7
Pages
e23035
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2157800726
Cited by
340
References
75
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 20
FWCI
12.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
  • Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Tekes
  • Valio
  • Wageningen University and Research
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
Keywords
gut microbiota, healthy adults, temporal stability, core microbiome, intestinal symptoms, abdominal pain, bloating, Bifidobacterium, antibiotics, archaea, gut health
MeSH terms
Adult, Bacteria, DNA, Bacterial, Double-Blind Method, Feces, Female, Humans, Intestinal Diseases, Intestines, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Phylogeny, RNA, Messenger, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Biomarkers, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Gene Expression Profiling, Biodiversity, Metagenome

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