Abstract
The impact of diet on the gut microbiota has usually been assessed by
subjecting people to the same controlled diet and thereafter following
the shifts in the microbiota. In the present study, we used habitual
dietary intake, clinical data, quantitative polymerase chain reaction,
and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to characterize the
stool microbiota of Finnish monozygotic twins. The effect of diet on the
numbers of bacteria was described through a hierarchical linear mixed
model that included the twin individuals, stratified by body mass index,
and their families as random effects. The abundance and diversity of
the bacterial groups studied did not differ between normal-weight,
overweight, and obese individuals with the techniques used. Intakes of
energy, monounsaturated fatty acids, n3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFAs), n6 PUFAs, and soluble fiber had significant associations with
the stool bacterial numbers (e.g., increased energy intake was
associated with reduced numbers of Bacteroides spp.). In addition, co-twins with identical energy intake had more similar numbers and DGGE-profile diversities of Bacteroides
spp. than did the co-twins with different intake. Moreover, the
co-twins who ingested the same amounts of saturated fatty acids had very
similar DGGE profiles of Bacteroides spp., whereas the
co-twins with similar consumption of fiber had a very low
bifidobacterial DGGE-profile similarity. In conclusion, our findings
confirm that the diet plays an important role in the modulation of the
stool microbiota, in particular Bacteroides spp. and bifidobacteria.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 417-423 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Nutrition |
Volume | 143 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |