Human Gut Microbiome Across Different Lifestyles: From Hunter-Gatherers to Urban Populations.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Secondary pooled analysis of cross-sectional observational datasets
PubMed 35558108 · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.843170
What was done
The authors compiled and compared 16S rRNA gut microbiome sequencing data from 14 published studies comprising 568 individuals globally. Populations were classified along a lifestyle gradient into hunter-gatherer, agricultural, agropastoral, pastoral, and urban categories to evaluate differences in microbial alpha diversity, beta diversity, and taxonomic composition.
What was found
No numerical values, test statistics, or p-values are reported in the abstract. Industrialized populations showed lower diversity than non-industrialized groups. Traditional populations exhibited distinct alpha and beta diversity across lifestyle subcategories. Beta diversity analyses indicated that pastoral and agropastoral gut microbiomes were more similar to urban microbiomes than hunter-gatherer microbiomes were, representing a compositional transition toward industrialized states. Bacterial families including Bacteroidaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Rikenellaceae were reported as differentially abundant in urban populations.
Why it matters
Subdividing traditional lifestyles reveals an ecological gradient in the gut microbiome that is masked when grouping all non-industrialized populations together. This helps delineate how specific subsistence transitions, such as pastoralism and agriculture, correlate with microbiome remodeling prior to full industrialization.
Limits
The abstract provides no quantitative metrics or effect sizes. Aggregating 16S data across 14 independent studies introduces potential technical batch effects and sequencing protocol variability. Cross-sectional observational data cannot establish causality or isolate specific dietary factors from other environmental and cultural exposures.
Cited by
- supports Traditional societies have greater gut microbiome diversity compared to modern industrialized societies.