TY - JOUR
T1 - Gut microbiota composition in himalayan and andean populations and its relationship with diet, lifestyle and adaptation to the high-altitude environment
AU - Quagliariello, Andrea
AU - Di Paola, Monica
AU - De Fanti, Sara
AU - Gnecchi-Ruscone, Guido Alberto
AU - Martinez-Priego, Lucia
AU - Pérez-Villaroya, David
AU - Sherpa, Mingma G.
AU - Sherpa, Phurba T.
AU - Marinelli, Giorgio
AU - Natali, Luca
AU - Di Marcello, Marco
AU - Peluzzi, Davide
AU - Di Cosimo, Patrizia
AU - D’auria, Giuseppe
AU - Pettener, Davide
AU - Sazzini, Marco
AU - Luiselli, Donata
AU - De Filippo, Carlotta
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Human populations living at high altitude evolved a number of biological adjustments to cope with a challenging environment characterised especially by reduced oxygen availability and limited nutritional resources. This condition may also affect their gut microbiota composition. Here, we explored the impact of exposure to such selective pressures on human gut microbiota by considering different ethnic groups living at variable degrees of altitude: the high-altitude Sherpa and low-altitude Tamang populations from Nepal, the high-altitude Aymara population from Bolivia, as well as a low-altitude cohort of European ancestry, used as control. We thus observed microbial profiles common to the Sherpa and Aymara, but absent in the low-altitude cohorts, which may contribute to the achievement of adaptation to high-altitude lifestyle and nutritional conditions. The collected evidences suggest that microbial signatures associated to these rural populations may enhance metabolic functions able to supply essential compounds useful for the host to cope with high altitude-related physiological changes and energy demand. Therefore, these results add another valuable piece of the puzzle to the understanding of the beneficial effects of symbiosis between microbes and their human host even from an evolutionary perspective.
AB - Human populations living at high altitude evolved a number of biological adjustments to cope with a challenging environment characterised especially by reduced oxygen availability and limited nutritional resources. This condition may also affect their gut microbiota composition. Here, we explored the impact of exposure to such selective pressures on human gut microbiota by considering different ethnic groups living at variable degrees of altitude: the high-altitude Sherpa and low-altitude Tamang populations from Nepal, the high-altitude Aymara population from Bolivia, as well as a low-altitude cohort of European ancestry, used as control. We thus observed microbial profiles common to the Sherpa and Aymara, but absent in the low-altitude cohorts, which may contribute to the achievement of adaptation to high-altitude lifestyle and nutritional conditions. The collected evidences suggest that microbial signatures associated to these rural populations may enhance metabolic functions able to supply essential compounds useful for the host to cope with high altitude-related physiological changes and energy demand. Therefore, these results add another valuable piece of the puzzle to the understanding of the beneficial effects of symbiosis between microbes and their human host even from an evolutionary perspective.
KW - Dietary habits
KW - Gut microbiota
KW - High-altitude adaptation
KW - Host-microbe coevolution
KW - Human adaptive evolution
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U2 - 10.4436/JASS.97007
DO - 10.4436/JASS.97007
M3 - Article
C2 - 31782749
AN - SCOPUS:85077627749
VL - 97
SP - 189
EP - 208
JO - Journal of Anthropological Sciences
JF - Journal of Anthropological Sciences
SN - 1827-4765
ER -