Intest Res.  2019 Jul;17(3):419-426. 10.5217/ir.2018.00149.

Is stool frequency associated with the richness and community composition of gut microbiota?

• Kwon HJ
• Lim JH
• Kang D
• Lim S
• Park SJ
• Kim JH

• KMID: 2454751
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2018.00149

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Recently, a number of studies have reported that the gut microbiota could contribute to human conditions, including obesity, inflammation, cancer development, and behavior. We hypothesized that the composition and distribution of gut microbiota are different according to stool frequency, and attempted to identify the association between gut microbiota and stool frequency.
METHODS
We collected fecal samples from healthy individuals divided into 3 groups according to stool frequency: group 1, a small number of defecation (≤2 times/wk); group 2, normal defecation (1 time/day or 1 time/2 day); and group 3, a large number of defecation (≥2-3 times/day). We evaluated the composition and distribution of the gut microbiota in each group via 16S rRNA-based taxonomic profiling of the fecal samples.
RESULTS
Fecal samples were collected from a total of 60 individuals (31 men and 29 women, aged 34.1±5.88 years), and each group comprised 20 individuals. The microbial richness of group 1 was significantly higher than that of group 3 and tended to decrease with increasing number of defecation (P<0.05). The biological community composition was fairly different according to the number of defecation, and Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes ratio was higher in group 1 than in the other groups. Moreover, we found specific strains at the family and genus levels in groups 1 and 3.
CONCLUSIONS
Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes ratio and the abundance of Bifidobacterium were different according to the stool frequency, and specific bacteria were identified in the subjects with large and small numbers of defecation, respectively. These findings suggest that stool frequency might be associated with the richness and community composition of the gut microbiota.

Keyword

Feces; Gastrointestinal microbiome; Composition; Distribution

MeSH Terms

Bacteria
Bacteroidetes
Bifidobacterium
Biota
Defecation
Feces
Female
Firmicutes
Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
Humans
Inflammation
Male
Obesity

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Violin plot for the α-diversity of bacterial communities in the 3 different groups according to the number of defecation. The violin plot presents the full range of values obtained from the source data, where the width of the orange, blue, or red-colored area presents the probability density of the sample values at that level (aP<0.05). The Seaborn package in Python 3 was used for visualization.

• 

  Fig. 2. Principal coordinate analysis plot according to the Bray Curtis dissimilarity for bacterial associations in the 3 groups. Each dot presents the bacterial community of each sample (individual). It was generated using the Microbial Genomics Module in CLC Genomics Workbench V10.0.1 (QIAGEN). Group 1, a small number of defecation (≤2 times/wk); group 2, normal defecation (1 time/1–2 day); group 3, a large number of defecation (≥2–3 times/day).

• 

  Fig. 3. Composition of bacterial communities in the 3 different groups. (A) Relative abundance of the gut microbiota in the 3 different groups at the phylum level against the Greengenes database. (B) Abundance of the gut microbiota at the genus level. It was generated using the Microbial Genomics Module in CLC Genomics Workbench V10.0.1 (QIAGEN). NA, not available.

• 

  Fig. 4. Significant co-occurrence relationships among the abundances of bacteria according to the number of defecation at the family and genus levels. Visualization for a microbial interaction network is shown with nodes and clades. Each node presents different bacteria, and each edge presents significant co-occurrence relationships. The size of the node indicates the abundance of each bacterium at the phylum and genus levels. The CoNet application in Cytoscape 3.6 was used for visualization. Group 1, a small number of defecation (≤ 2 times/wk); group 3, a large number of defecation (≥ 2–3 times/day).

• 

  Fig. 5. Significantly different bacterial compositions in the groups classified by the number of defecation at the family (A) and genus levels (B). The box plots present the relative abundance of the significantly different bacteria between the individuals with a small number of defecation (group 1) and a large number of defecation (group 3). Each groups represent group 1 (≤2 times/wk), group 2 (1 time/1–2 day), and group 3 (≥2–3 times/day). It was generated by using the Seaborn package in Python 3.

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