Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults
ABSTRACT An outstanding question regarding the human gut microbiota is whether and how microbiota-directed interventions influence host phenotypic traits. Here, we employed a dietary intervention to probe this question in the context of lactose intolerance. To assess the effects of dietary dairy pro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Society for Microbiology
2022-06-01
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| Series: | mBio |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.01051-22 |
| _version_ | 1818249280622690304 |
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| author | Courtney J. Smith Les Dethlefsen Christopher Gardner Linda Nguyen Marcus Feldman Elizabeth K. Costello Oren Kolodny David A. Relman |
| author_facet | Courtney J. Smith Les Dethlefsen Christopher Gardner Linda Nguyen Marcus Feldman Elizabeth K. Costello Oren Kolodny David A. Relman |
| author_sort | Courtney J. Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT An outstanding question regarding the human gut microbiota is whether and how microbiota-directed interventions influence host phenotypic traits. Here, we employed a dietary intervention to probe this question in the context of lactose intolerance. To assess the effects of dietary dairy product elimination and (re)introduction on the microbiota and host phenotype, we studied 12 self-reported mildly lactose-intolerant adults with triweekly collection of fecal samples over a 12-week study period: 2 weeks of baseline diet, 4 weeks of dairy product elimination, and 6 weeks of gradual whole cow milk (re)introduction. Of the 12 subjects, 6 reported either no dairy or only lactose-free dairy product consumption. A clinical assay for lactose intolerance, the hydrogen breath test, was performed before and after each of these three study phases, and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed on all fecal samples. We found that none of the subjects showed change in a clinically defined measure of lactose tolerance. Similarly, fecal microbiota structure resisted modification. Although the mean fraction of the genus Bifidobacterium, a group known to metabolize lactose, increased slightly with milk (re)introduction (from 0.0125 to 0.0206; Wilcoxon P = 0.068), the overall structure of each subject’s gut microbiota remained highly individualized and largely stable in the face of diet manipulation. IMPORTANCE Lactose intolerance is a gastrointestinal disorder diagnosed with a lactose hydrogen breath test. Lifestyle changes such as diet interventions can impact the gut microbiome; however, the role of the microbiome in lactose intolerance is unclear. Our study assessed the effects of a 12-week dietary dairy product elimination and (re)introduction on the microbiome and clinical lactose intolerance status in 12 adult self-reported lactose-intolerant individuals. We found each subject’s gut microbiome remained highly individualized and largely stable in the face of this diet manipulation. We also report that none of the subjects showed change in a clinically defined measure of lactose tolerance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T15:33:59Z |
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| id | doaj.art-1511bb5f51084f1a88a38d426d2757f0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-7511 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T15:33:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | mBio |
| spelling | doaj.art-1511bb5f51084f1a88a38d426d2757f02022-12-22T00:20:03ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologymBio2150-75112022-06-0113310.1128/mbio.01051-22Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant AdultsCourtney J. Smith0Les Dethlefsen1Christopher Gardner2Linda Nguyen3Marcus Feldman4Elizabeth K. Costello5Oren Kolodny6David A. Relman7Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USADepartment of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USADepartment of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USADepartment of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USADepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USADepartment of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USADepartment of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, A. Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, IsraelDepartment of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USAABSTRACT An outstanding question regarding the human gut microbiota is whether and how microbiota-directed interventions influence host phenotypic traits. Here, we employed a dietary intervention to probe this question in the context of lactose intolerance. To assess the effects of dietary dairy product elimination and (re)introduction on the microbiota and host phenotype, we studied 12 self-reported mildly lactose-intolerant adults with triweekly collection of fecal samples over a 12-week study period: 2 weeks of baseline diet, 4 weeks of dairy product elimination, and 6 weeks of gradual whole cow milk (re)introduction. Of the 12 subjects, 6 reported either no dairy or only lactose-free dairy product consumption. A clinical assay for lactose intolerance, the hydrogen breath test, was performed before and after each of these three study phases, and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed on all fecal samples. We found that none of the subjects showed change in a clinically defined measure of lactose tolerance. Similarly, fecal microbiota structure resisted modification. Although the mean fraction of the genus Bifidobacterium, a group known to metabolize lactose, increased slightly with milk (re)introduction (from 0.0125 to 0.0206; Wilcoxon P = 0.068), the overall structure of each subject’s gut microbiota remained highly individualized and largely stable in the face of diet manipulation. IMPORTANCE Lactose intolerance is a gastrointestinal disorder diagnosed with a lactose hydrogen breath test. Lifestyle changes such as diet interventions can impact the gut microbiome; however, the role of the microbiome in lactose intolerance is unclear. Our study assessed the effects of a 12-week dietary dairy product elimination and (re)introduction on the microbiome and clinical lactose intolerance status in 12 adult self-reported lactose-intolerant individuals. We found each subject’s gut microbiome remained highly individualized and largely stable in the face of this diet manipulation. We also report that none of the subjects showed change in a clinically defined measure of lactose tolerance.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.01051-22dietgutlactose intolerancemicrobial communitiesmicrobiota |
| spellingShingle | Courtney J. Smith Les Dethlefsen Christopher Gardner Linda Nguyen Marcus Feldman Elizabeth K. Costello Oren Kolodny David A. Relman Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults mBio diet gut lactose intolerance microbial communities microbiota |
| title | Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults |
| title_full | Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults |
| title_fullStr | Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults |
| title_short | Short-Term Dairy Product Elimination and Reintroduction Minimally Perturbs the Gut Microbiota in Self-Reported Lactose-Intolerant Adults |
| title_sort | short term dairy product elimination and reintroduction minimally perturbs the gut microbiota in self reported lactose intolerant adults |
| topic | diet gut lactose intolerance microbial communities microbiota |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.01051-22 |
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