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. 2022 Oct 28;11(11):1586.
doi: 10.3390/biology11111586.

Influence of Adiposity on the Gut Microbiota Composition of Arab Women: A Case-Control Study

Esra'a A Aljazairy  1 , Sara Al-Musharaf  1 , Manal Abudawood  2 , Basmah Almaarik  2 , Syed D Hussain  3 , Abdullah M Alnaami  3 , Shaun Sabico  3 , Nasser M Al-Daghri  3 , Mario Clerici  4   5 , Ghadeer S Aljuraiban  1
Affiliations

Influence of Adiposity on the Gut Microbiota Composition of Arab Women: A Case-Control Study

Esra'a A Aljazairy et al. Biology (Basel). .

Abstract

Recent evidence has suggested that the gut microbiota is a possible risk factor for obesity. However, limited evidence is available on the association between the gut microbiota composition and obesity markers in the Middle-Eastern region. We aimed to investigate the association between gut microbiota and obesity markers in a case-control study including 92 Saudi women aged 18-25 years, including participants with obesity (case, n = 44) and with normal weight (control, n = 48). Anthropometric, body composition, and biochemical data were collected. The whole-genome shotgun technique was used to analyze the gut microbiota. The Shannon alpha and Bray-Curtis beta diversity were determined. The microbial alpha diversity was significantly associated with only the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (p-value = 0.04), while the microbial beta diversity was significantly associated with body mass index (p-value = 0.048), %body fat (p-value = 0.018), and WHR (p-value = 0.050). Specific bacteria at different taxonomic levels, such as Bacteroidetes and Synergistetes, were positively associated with different obesity markers. Alistipes was higher in the control group compared with the case group. The results highlight the association of the gut microbiota with obesity and suggest that the gut microbiota of Saudi women is associated with specific obesity markers. Future studies are needed to determine the role of the identified strains in the metabolism of individuals with obesity.

Keywords: %body fat; BMI; WHR; gut microbiota; microbial alpha diversity; microbial beta diversity; obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The sponsor had no role in the design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison between the gut microbiota alpha diversity (Shannon–Wiener index) and obesity markers: (A) relative to the BMI, (B) relative to WHR, (C) relative to %body fat.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison between gut microbiota beta diversity (PCoA) and obesity markers: (A) relative to the BMI, (B) relative to WHR, and (C) relative to %body fat.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) of microbial taxa between the group with high WHR and the group with normal WHR: (A) phylum level, (B) genus level, (C) species level, and (D) strain level.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) of the microbial taxa between the group with obesity (case group) and the group with normal BMI (control group): (A) genus level, (B) species level, and (C) strain level.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Linear Discriminant Analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) of microbial taxa between the group with high %body fat and the group with normal %body fat: (A) genus level, (B) species level, and (C) strain level.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Linear regression analysis of Bifidobacterium angulatum and WHR.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Linear regression analysis of Bifidobacterium angulatum DSM 20098, JCM 7096 and WHR.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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