Location: Immunity and Disease Prevention Research
Project Number: 2032-10700-002-020-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 23, 2024
End Date: Dec 22, 2025
Objective:
The overall objective of the cooperative agreement is to determine the impact of pulse intake on the antimicrobial resistance genes in the healthy adult consumer's gut. Specific objectives of the first year are to (a) Prepare libraries and sequence shotgun metagenomes from a lentil study; (b) Conduct bioinformatics and statistical analyses of shotgun metagenomes from lentil study; (c) Estimate intake of specific pulses in the FEEDMe study; and (d) Begin preparing a manuscript on lentil consumption and antimicrobial resistance.
Approach:
Banked stool samples and dietary data from participants in two different pulse feeding trials will be used:
1) Lentil Feeding Study: This completed PCHI-funded trial (#58-3060-9-040) at Montana State University was a single-blind parallel randomized clinical trial that examined the impact of 12-weeks of lentil consumption on postprandial lipid metabolism and gut microbial composition. Thirty-eight metabolically at-risk males and females (18-70 y), as defined by elevated waist circumference and postprandial triglycerides, completed the 12-w dietary intervention. For the intervention, subjects were asked to consume 7 prepared mid-day meals each week that were isocaloric but varied in lentil dosage per week: 0 g or 980 g whole green cooked lentils. Individuals in the control group consumed meals containing either turkey or chicken instead of lentils. Dietary intake (24-hr recall, food frequency questionnaire) and blood and stool samples were collected before and after the 12-w intervention.
2) FEEDMe Study: The “Fiber Effectively Educates & Directs the Microbiome (FEEDMe) Study” at UC Davis is a single-group open-label pilot study (n = 48, expected) to examine how diverse, commercially available foods rich in arabinose influence the gut microbiome. Eligible subjects are healthy males and females 18-50 y with BMI < 35 kg/m2. The study is approximately 49 days long and grouped into three periods: baseline (15 days), intervention (18 days), and follow-up (16 days). Dietary intake (24-hr recall) will be assessed, and stool samples will be self-collected in final days of each period. For the intervention, subjects receive high-arabinose food products, which include pulse-containing snacks as well as plain beans with recipes and tips to include them in their habitual diet for 18-days. During this time, subjects will also be asked to ramp up their consumption of study foods (from 1 to 4-5 study foods per day). Subjects will complete a product intake and perception (PIP) form each time a study food is consumed. PIP forms specifically ask subjects how much of a study food was consumed; thus, analysis of PIP forms will allow us to estimate intake of pulses during the intervention.
