Identification of three bacterial species associated with increased appendicular lean mass: the HUNT study

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 2250 - 9
• Main Authors: Grahnemo, Louise, Nethander, Maria, Coward, Eivind, Gabrielsen, Maiken Elvestad, Sree, Satya, Billod, Jean-Marc, Sjögren, Klara, Engstrand, Lars, Dekkers, Koen F., Fall, Tove, Langhammer, Arnulf, Hveem, Kristian, Ohlsson, Claes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.04.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 45/77; 631/326; 692/53; 692/699/2743/316/801; Absorptiometry, Photon; Biomedical materials; Body Composition; Bone composition; Bone Density; Bone mass; Bone mineral density; Clinical Medicine; Epidemiology; Eubacterium; Female; Hospitals; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Intestinal microflora; Klinisk medicin; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Microbiota; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; Osteoporosis; Osteoporosis - complications; Public health; Regression analysis; Sarcopenia; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Species
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37978-9

Appendicular lean mass (ALM) associates with mobility and bone mineral density (BMD). While associations between gut microbiota composition and ALM have been reported, previous studies rely on relatively small sample sizes. Here, we determine the associations between prevalent gut microbes and ALM in large discovery and replication cohorts with information on relevant confounders within the population-based Norwegian HUNT cohort (n = 5196, including women and men). We show that the presence of three bacterial species – Coprococcus comes , Dorea longicatena , and Eubacterium ventriosum – are reproducibly associated with higher ALM. When combined into an anabolic species count, participants with all three anabolic species have 0.80 kg higher ALM than those without any. In an exploratory analysis, the anabolic species count is positively associated with femoral neck and total hip BMD. We conclude that the anabolic species count may be used as a marker of ALM and BMD. The therapeutic potential of these anabolic species to prevent sarcopenia and osteoporosis needs to be determined. Here, the authors employ data from the population-based Norwegian HUNT cohort (n = 5196, including women and men) to associate the presence of three gut microbial species – Coprococcus comes , Dorea longicatena , and Eubacterium ventriosum – with higher lean mass.