Gut Microbiome of the Canadian Arctic Inuit

Non-Western populations have been shown to have distinct gut microbial communities shaped by traditional diets. The hitherto-uncharacterized microbiome of the Inuit may help us to better understand health risks specific to this population such as diabetes and obesity, which increase in prevalence as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:mSphere
Main Authors: Girard, Catherine, Tromas, Nicolas, Amyot, Marc, Shapiro, B. Jesse
Other Authors: Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa, Canada Research Chairs, Gouvernement du Canada | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Society for Microbiology 2017
Subjects:
Molecular Biology
Microbiology
Arctic
inuit
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00297-16
https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/mSphere.00297-16
Description
Summary:Non-Western populations have been shown to have distinct gut microbial communities shaped by traditional diets. The hitherto-uncharacterized microbiome of the Inuit may help us to better understand health risks specific to this population such as diabetes and obesity, which increase in prevalence as many Inuit transition to a Western diet. Here we show that even Inuit consuming a mostly traditional diet have a broadly Western-like microbiome. This suggests that similarities between the Inuit diet and the Western diet (low fiber, high fat) may lead to a convergence of community structures and diversity. However, certain species and strains of microbes have significantly different levels of abundance and diversity in the Inuit, possibly driven by differences in diet. Furthermore, the Inuit diet provides an exception to the correlation between traditional diets and high microbial diversity, potentially due to their transitioning diet. Knowledge of the Inuit microbiome may provide future resources for interventions and conservation of Inuit heritage.

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