Risk of death by microbiome
Intestinal microbes predict the risk of death for 15 years ahead
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
According to two new studies, the analysis of the composition of intestinal microorganisms exceeds the predictive ability of the analysis of a person's own DNA. The thing is that the microbiome is much more responsive to lifestyle changes.
In recent years, there has been increasing evidence of the important role of symbiotic intestinal microorganisms in maintaining health and the development of many diseases, from arthritis to autism. And in the future, the "microbial signature" will even allow us to calculate the expected life expectancy of a person. The authors of two recent studies, about which he tells, are sure of this Science Magazine.
Preprint of the article by Tierney et al. The predictive power of the microbiome exceeds that of genome-wide association studies in the discrimination of complex human disease published on the bioRxiv – VM website.
Microbiome and diseases
The first of them is a meta-analysis of 47 papers evaluating the relationship of the collective genome of intestinal microorganisms with 13 common diseases. Among them were diseases such as schizophrenia, hypertension and asthma – it is believed that both genetic and external factors affect the risk of their occurrence. In addition, the analysis included 24 studies investigating the effect of heredity on the same diseases.
It turned out that the "genetic signature" of microorganisms predicts the presence of a number of diseases in a person 20% better than his own genes.
In the case of some diseases, such as colorectal cancer, this value reached 50%. Only type I diabetes was better diagnosed by human genes, not his microbiome.
Most likely, this accuracy is due to the fact that the composition of intestinal microorganisms, unlike genes, reflects well the lifestyle, including diet and exercise.
The results of the work are considered preliminary. Its authors believe that in the future, a combination of microbiome and genetic analysis will help identify key markers of many diseases and improve the effectiveness of their treatment.
Microbiome and longevity
The authors of the second publication studied the relationship between the microbiome and life expectancy. To do this, they analyzed thousands of stool samples – they were provided by Finnish volunteers in 2002 and sequenced 15 years later.
The researchers concluded that the presence in the feces of a large number of bacteria from the Enterobacteriaceae family, including the causative agent of Salmonella Salmonella and Escherichia coli, with a 15 percent probability leads to death within the next 15 years. This relationship persisted in the eastern and western Finnish regions, which differ in terms of genetic composition and lifestyle.
Both studies do not explain exactly how bacteria and other intestinal microorganisms affect the development of diseases and the risk of death. Perhaps they directly cause them through inflammation and disruption of the immune system. It is also likely that they simply reflect the negative changes occurring in the body.
Scientists intend to further investigate the relationship between the microbiome and health in the hope of developing new diagnostic tests and therapies.
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