Relandscaping the gut microbiota with a whole food: Dose–response effects to common bean

Authors: LUTSIV, TYMOFIY - Colorado State University; MCGINLEY, JOHN - Colorado State University; NEIL-MCDONALD, ELIZABETH - Colorado State University; WEIR, TIFFANY - Colorado State University; FOSTER, MICHELLE - Colorado State University; THOMPSON, HENRY - Colorado State University

Submitted to: Foods
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2022
Publication Date: 4/15/2022
Citation: Lutsiv, T., Mcginley, J.N., Neil-Mcdonald, E.S., Weir, T.L., Foster, M.T., Thompson, H.J. 2022. Relandscaping the gut microbiota with a whole food: Dose–response effects to common bean. Foods. 11. Article 1153. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11081153.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11081153

Interpretive Summary: Underconsumption of dietary fiber is a health concern linked to the increasing global burden of chronic diseases. The benefits of fiber are partially attributed to modulation of the gut microbiota, whose composition and function depend on the amount and quality of microbiota-accessible substrates in the diet. Because common bean is a food type rich in fiber, we were interested in studying how different levels of bean consumption could impact the gut microbiota. We used increasing doses of common bean administered in macronutrient-matched diets fed to mice and then measured microbial communities in their large intestines. Compositional analyses identified a dose-responsive bean-induced shift in microbial composition. With an increasing bean dose, certain bacteria associated with health benefits were enhanced and several bacteria associated with chronic disease risk were suppressed in the gut of the mice. Further investigations into the basis for the microbial shifts in the gut will aid in the development of food-based precision approaches to chronic disease prevention and control.

Technical Abstract: Underconsumption of dietary fiber and the milieu of chemicals with which it is associated is a health concern linked to the increasing global burden of chronic diseases. The benefits of fiber are partially attributed to modulation of the gut microbiota, whose composition and function depend on the amount and quality of microbiota-accessible substrates in the diet. However, not all types of fiber are equally accessible to the gut microbiota. Phaseolus vulgaris L., or common bean, is a food type rich in fiber as well as other prebiotics posing a great potential to positively impact diet-microbiota-host interactions. To elucidate the magnitude of bean’s effects on the gut microbiota, increasing doses of common bean were administered in macronutrient-matched diet formulations. The microbial communities in the ceca of female and male mice were evaluated via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. As the bean dose increased, the Bacillota:Bacteroidota ratio (formerly referred to as the Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio) was reduced and a-diversity decreased, whereas the community composition was distinctly different between the diet groups according to ß-diversity. These effects were more pronounced in female mice compared to male mice. Compositional analyses identified a dose-responsive bean-induced shift in microbial composition. With an increasing bean dose, Rikenellaceae, Bacteroides, and RF39, which are associated with health benefits, were enhanced. More taxa, however, were suppressed, among which were Allobaculum, Oscillospira, Dorea, and Ruminococcus, which are predominantly associated with chronic disease risk. Investigation of the origins of the dose dependent and biological sex differences in response to common bean consumption may provide insights into bean-gut microbiota-host interactions important to developing food-based precision approaches to chronic disease prevention and control.