Impacts of the plateau environment on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes in Han and Tibetan individuals

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The intestinal microbiota is significantly affected by the external environment, but our understanding of the effects of extreme environments such as plateaus is far from adequate. In this study, we systematically analyzed the variation in the intestinal microbiota and 76 blood clinical indexes among 393 healthy adults with different plateau living durations (Han individuals with no plateau living, with plateau living for 4 to 6 days, with plateau living for >3 months, and who returned to the plain for 3 months, as well as plateau-living Tibetans). The results showed that the high-altitude environment rapidly (4 days) and continually (more than 3 months) shaped both the intestinal microbiota and clinical indexes of the Han population. With prolongation of plateau living, the general characteristics of the intestinal microbiota and clinical indexes of the Han population were increasingly similar to those of the Tibetan population. The intestinal microbiota of the Han population that returned to the plain area for 3 months still resembled that of the plateau-living Han population rather than that of the Han population on the plain. Moreover, clinical indexes such as blood glucose were significantly lower in the plateau groups than in the nonplateau groups, while the opposite result was obtained for testosterone. Interestingly, there were Tibetan-specific correlations between glucose levels and Succinivibrio and Sarcina abundance in the intestine. The results of this study suggest that a hypoxic environment could rapidly and lastingly affect both the human intestinal microbiota and blood clinical indexes, providing new insights for the study of plateau adaptability.

Recommended citation: Jia Z, Zhao X, Liu X, Zhao L, Jia Q, Shi J, Xu X, Hao L, Xu Z, Zhong Q, Yu K, Cui S, Chen H, Guo J, Li X, Han Y, Song X, Zhao C, Bo X, Tian Y, Wang W, Xie G, Feng Q, He K. 2020. Impacts of the plateau environment on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes in Han and Tibetan individuals. mSystems 5:e00660-19. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00660-19.