Unravelling the relationship between Long-Term Fluctuations in Gut Microbiota and Health Condition

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K10523
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 58030:Hygiene and public health-related: excluding laboratory approach
• Research Institution: Hirosaki University
• Principal Investigator: Murashita Koichi 弘前大学, 健康未来イノベーション研究機構, 教授 (80794601)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 腸内細菌叢 / 予防医学 / 岩木健康増進プロジェクト（大規模合同健診） / 疾患予兆

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The primary focus of this research was to elucidate the correlation between long-term fluctuation in Gut microbiota and health condition through the Iwaki Health Promotion Project, conducted in the Iwaki district of Hirosaki city since 2005. The research focused on 545 individuals who participated in the project conducted in 2015,2016,2017 and 2019.
The research findings revealed that certain bacterial species consistently showed significantly higher relative abundance in both the obese and non-obese groups across different years. This pattern remained consistent even in groups where there were changes in BMI values over the four-year period (2015-2019). In the obese-obese group where there was no change in BMI values, the relative abundance of Ruminococcus2 and Dialister, which belong to the phylum Firmicutes, was significantly higher during interannual comparisons, suggesting an association with obesity.

Free Research Field

社会医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

多様な細菌から構成される複雑な微生物生態系は、宿主の健康に大きな影響を及ぼすことが数々の研究で示されており、また腸内細菌叢の適正化によって肥満、糖尿病、アレルギー、自閉症など様々な疾患の症状が改善するといった報告が複数されている。腸内細菌叢は人それぞれで多種多様であることが知られており、適正な腸内細菌叢は個人ごとに異なると考えられる。
従って、腸内細菌叢と健康との関連について明らかにするために「腸内細菌叢の変動」を検討することは非常に有意義であり，個人ごとの腸内細菌叢の変動を分析することが、各種疾患の発症との関係を明らかにするうえで重要である。