Association between composition of the human gastrointestinal microbiome and development of fatty liver with choline deficiency

MD Spencer, TJ Hamp, RW Reid, LM Fischer… - Gastroenterology, 2011 - Elsevier
MD Spencer, TJ Hamp, RW Reid, LM Fischer, SH Zeisel, AA Fodor
Gastroenterology, 2011Elsevier
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects up to 30% of the US
population, but the mechanisms underlying this condition are incompletely understood. We
investigated how diet standardization and choline deficiency influence the composition of
the microbial community in the human gastrointestinal tract and the development of fatty liver
under conditions of choline deficiency. METHODS: We performed a 2-month inpatient study
of 15 female subjects who were placed on well-controlled diets in which choline levels were …
BACKGROUND & AIMS
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects up to 30% of the US population, but the mechanisms underlying this condition are incompletely understood. We investigated how diet standardization and choline deficiency influence the composition of the microbial community in the human gastrointestinal tract and the development of fatty liver under conditions of choline deficiency.
METHODS
We performed a 2-month inpatient study of 15 female subjects who were placed on well-controlled diets in which choline levels were manipulated. We used 454-FLX pyrosequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA bacterial genes to characterize microbiota in stool samples collected over the course of the study.
RESULTS
The compositions of the gastrointestinal microbial communities changed with choline levels of diets; each individual's microbiome remained distinct for the duration of the experiment, even though all subjects were fed identical diets. Variations between subjects in levels of Gammaproteobacteria and Erysipelotrichi were directly associated with changes in liver fat in each subject during choline depletion. Levels of these bacteria, change in amount of liver fat, and a single nucleotide polymorphism that affects choline were combined into a model that accurately predicted the degree to which subjects developed fatty liver on a choline-deficient diet.
CONCLUSIONS
Host factors and gastrointestinal bacteria each respond to dietary choline deficiency, although the gut microbiota remains distinct in each individual. We identified bacterial biomarkers of fatty liver that result from choline deficiency, adding to the accumulating evidence that gastrointestinal microbes have a role in metabolic disorders.
Elsevier