Individualized nutritional assessment based on gut microbiota and its association with diet
Accurately quantifying an individual's nutritional intake and status is a challenging task. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) has been used as a primary tool for nutritional surveys, but its accuracy and resolution need improvement. At the same time, blood metabolomic data provides us with a more detailed picture of nutritional metabolism, while the gut microbiota may also provide information on long-term personalized dietary patterns and partial nutrient metabolism. We attempted to utilize the species abundance of the gut microbiota and the characteristics of metabolic pathways to construct a machine learning model for assessing and quantifying major nutritional components. Data on amino acids, selected vitamins, and major nutritional components will be integrated through the combination of FFQ and serum metabolomics.
From 2020 to 2023, we aim to establish a Chinese population cohort consisting of 2000 individuals. We will conduct metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiota, non-targeted metabolomics analysis of blood samples, and targeted analysis of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins. Additionally, a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) survey will be administered.
For major blood nutritional indicators, including amino acids, water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, and overall nutrient intake levels, we will utilize various machine learning methods to construct predictive models using the abundance of gut microbiota species and metabolic pathway data. Furthermore, we will explore the disease and lifestyle factors that may influence the correlation between gut microbiota and these blood indicators, as well as the temporal stability of both in reflecting individual nutritional status.
The Lifeline DEEP data will be used for cross-validation of existing models and to determine the universality and influencing factors of gut microbiota-nutrient relationships in different populations.
Currently, we have completed the collection of the population cohort and the analysis of gut microbiota. The analysis of all blood metabolic indicators will be completed by October 2023.