AUTHOR=Tian Bo , Yao Jia-Heng , Lin Xu , Lv Wan-Qiang , Jiang Lin-Dong , Wang Zhuo-Qi , Shen Jie , Xiao Hong-Mei , Xu Hanli , Xu Lu-Lu , Cheng Xiyu , Shen Hui , Qiu Chuan , Luo Zhe , Zhao Lan-Juan , Yan Qiong , Deng Hong-Wen , Zhang Li-Shu 

TITLE=Metagenomic study of the gut microbiota associated with cow milk consumption in Chinese peri-/postmenopausal women

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.957885

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.957885

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Cow milk consumption (CMC) and alterations of gut bacterial composition are proposed to be closely related to human health and disease. Our research aims to investigate the changes in human gut microbial composition in Chinese peri-/postmenopausal women with different CMC habits. A total of 517 subjects were recruited and questionnaires about their CMC status were collected; 394 subjects were included in the final analyses. Fecal samples were used for studying gut bacterial composition. All the subjects were divided into a control group (<italic>n = 248</italic>) and a CMC group (<italic>n = 146</italic>) according to their CMC status. Non-parametric tests and LEfSe at different taxonomic levels were used to reveal differentially abundant taxa and functional categories across different CMC groups. Relative abundance (RA) of one phylum (<italic>p_Actinobacteria</italic>), three genera (<italic>g_Bifidobacterium</italic>, <italic>g_Anaerostipes</italic>, and <italic>g_Bacteroides</italic>), and 28 species diversified significantly across groups. Specifically, taxa <italic>g_Anaerostipes</italic> (<italic>p &lt; 0.01</italic>), <italic>g_Bacteroides</italic> (<italic>p &lt; 0.05</italic>), <italic>s_Anaerostipes_hadrus</italic> (<italic>p &lt; 0.01</italic>), and <italic>s_Bifidobacterium_pseudocatenulatum</italic> (<italic>p &lt; 0.01</italic>) were positively correlated with CMC levels, but <italic>p_Actinobacteria</italic> (<italic>p &lt; 0.01</italic>) and <italic>g_Bifidobacterium</italic> (<italic>p &lt; 0.01</italic>) were negatively associated with CMC levels. KEGG module analysis revealed 48 gut microbiome functional modules significantly (<italic>p &lt; 0.05</italic>) associated with CMC, including <italic>Vibrio cholerae</italic> pathogenicity signature, cholera toxins (<italic>p = 9.52e-04</italic>), and cephamycin C biosynthesis module (<italic>p = 0.0057</italic>), among others. In conclusion, CMC was associated with changes in gut microbiome patterns including beta diversity and richness of some gut microbiota. The alterations of certain bacteria including <italic>g_Anaerostipes</italic> and <italic>s_Bifidobacterium_pseudocatenulatum</italic> in the CMC group should be important for human health. This study further supports the biological value of habitual cow milk consumption.</p>