Diet and other determinants of the gut microbiota in adolescence: a life-course analysis of 82 potential determinants

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Background & aims: The human gut microbiota plays a key role in health. Factors shaping its composition and diversity have been widely studied during infancy and adulthood, but far less in adolescence, despite this being a key developmental stage. We examined the potential associations between the gut microbiota of adolescents and 82 variables measured from pregnancy to adolescence. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, stool samples were collected from 366 adolescents (age range: 13-16 years) from two INMA cohorts (Spain), while a range of variables, including diet, lifestyle, sociodemographic factors, health status, antibiotic use, vaccination, COVID-19, anthropometrics, and pubertal development, were collected from pregnancy to adolescence. The gut microbiota was characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and assessed using α- and β-diversity indices and abundances of individual taxa. Associations were evaluated using linear models and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA). Results: Vegetable intake during pregnancy was positively associated with α-diversity, as well as with general composition and the abundance of four genera (inversely with Dialister , Lachnoclostridium and Agathobacter , and positively with Phascolarctobacterium ). Legume intake was also inversely associated with Desulfovibrionaceae and Sutterella . During adolescence, cereal and pasta intake was positively associated with α-diversity, as well as with general composition and inversely associated with Bacteroides , whereas fish and seafood intake was inversely associated with α-diversity. Relevant non-dietary variables measured during pregnancy and at birth, such as biological sex, parental social class, and maternal education, and during adolescence, such as antibiotic use, body mass index, and pubertal status, were also associated with general composition of the gut microbiota and different taxa in either direction. Conclusions: Diet during pregnancy and adolescence, together with some anthropometric, clinical, and biological factors, appeared to play an important role in shaping the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota in this population of adolescents.

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