D4.4 Report including the characterization of gut microbiota and the quantification of gut-derived metabolites – Abstract

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The document titled 'Report on Gut Microbiota Characterization and Gut-Derived Metabolite Quantification (D4.4)' provides a comprehensive examination of the MED4Youth intervention's effects on the gut environment in the three pilot countries. This report delves into the meticulous analysis of changes in gut bacterial diversity and the quantification of gut-derived metabolites, elucidating the assessment and analysis methodology.

In particular, this deliverable explores the transformative impact of the Mediterranean Diet on gut bacterial diversity and the production of microbial-derived metabolites. The assessment of gut-derived metabolites revealed that multivariate analysis did not display significant differentiation in the metabolome when considering all three cohorts as a single population at visit 3. Nevertheless, specific metabolites, such as glucose, histamine, xanthine, and hypoxanthine, significantly contributed to the differentiation among dietary groups, as observed in both multivariate and univariate analyses.

In the distribution of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), no significant differences were noted among dietary groups, irrespective of the analysis approach. Nonetheless, acetic acid and isobutyric acid levels stood out as the most influential metabolites in distinguishing dietary groups at visit 3.
In the analysis of the entire population across all three cohorts at visit 3, the multivariate analysis revealed subtle differentiation in the bacterial community based on the type of diet. Notable taxonomic contributors included Enterococcaceae bacterium RF39, Ruminococcaceae, UCG-003, Barnesiella, KK4A214_group, and Eubacterium corpostandigenes_group. However, univariate analysis did not reveal significant differences, possibly due to the necessity of applying False Discovery Rate (FDR) correction, which makes the univariate test more restrictive.
These results will be analysed in conjunction with the findings from previous deliverables during the tasks of WP5 to more precisely elucidate the mechanism through which the Mediterranean diet exerts its benefits.