Gut microbial composition is associated with metabolic risk and differs markedly between industrialized (IND) and non-industrialized (non-IND) populations.
Objective: To characterize the gut microbiome of American Indian (AI) children with overweight/obesity relative to IND and non-IND individuals (including ancient AI gut microbiomes) .
Methods: Stool samples were from 7-10-year-old AI children with overweight/obesity enrolled in a lifestyle intervention trial on diabetes risk factors (2019-21) . Metagenomic analysis was performed on 39 samples from 25 individuals and compared to samples from age-matched (5-12-year-old) non-AI children in IND (N=380) or non-IND (N=90) populations.
Results: Mean age was 8.4 years (SD 1.11) , 44% were male. Mean age-sex-adjusted BMI z-score was 2.12 (SD 0.45) . By principal coordinates analysis, AI samples clustered in an intermediate position between the IND and non-IND samples (Figure 1) . AI children shared microbes with non-IND children that are rare in IND populations but common in ancient AI individuals (Prevotella copri, Coprococcus catus) .
Conclusions: The gut microbiome in a subset of AI children is distinct from the non-AI American gut microbiome. Further, AI children may have "inherited" gut microbes from their AI ancestors, which may contribute to differences in their metabolism relative to non-AI children.
A.Kostic: None. R.L.Hanson: None. M.Sinha: None.
American Diabetes Association (1-17-INI-13) ; National Institutes of Health (P30DK036836)
