--- title: "Determinants of Gut Microbiome Composition and Response to a Short Shared-Living Dietary Intervent" id: "biorxiv-7-determinants-of-gut-microbiome-composition-and-its-response-to-a-dietary" canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-7-determinants-of-gut-microbiome-composition-and-its-response-to-a-dietary" content_type: "clinical_feed_article" specialty: "Gastroenterology" source_name: "bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)" source_url: "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.16.751977v1?rss=1" published_at: "2026-09-18T12:00:00.000Z" evidence_level: "Verified Feed" license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use" --- # Determinants of Gut Microbiome Composition and Response to a Short Shared-Living Dietary Intervent ## Provenance & Clinical Metadata - **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-7-determinants-of-gut-microbiome-composition-and-its-response-to-a-dietary - **Specialty:** [Gastroenterology](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/gastroenterology.md) - **Primary Source:** bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints) - **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.16.751977v1?rss=1) - **Published At:** 2026-09-18T12:00:00.000Z - **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed ## Executive GIST (TL;DR) - This single-arm pop-up village study evaluated how a short, standardized **dietary intervention** altered the **gut microbiome** in 43 adults from North India, South India, and international backgrounds who co-lived for 15 days. - Stool samples were collected at baseline and after the intervention (86 samples) and sequenced using Oxford Nanopore shotgun metagenomics to profile taxonomic composition, alpha diversity, differential abundance, and assembly-based functional gene content across six metabolic pathways. - At baseline, **geographic region** (p = 0.046) and **body mass index (BMI)** group (p = 0.024) were the primary factors structuring community composition; habitual diet type did not significantly explain baseline differences (p = 0.792). - The shared gut-friendly diet produced a small but reproducible shift in community composition that was significant across five distance metrics (p ≤ 0.003). - The compositional response was concentrated in **overweight (OW)** participants (BMI ≥ 25), who showed a significant shift (p = 0.001); non-overweight participants did not show a significant change (p = 0.181). The Timepoint × BMI interaction reached significance for Bray–Curtis (p = 0.021) and Aitchison (p = 0.028) distances. - Differential-abundance analysis (consensus across MaAsLin2, LinDA, ALDEx2) identified depletion of oral-associated species **Streptococcus parasanguinis** (q = 0.010) and **Gemella sanguinis** (q = 0.021), reduced **Actinomyces** (q = 0.004), and increased **Faecalibacterium** (q = 0.016), among other genus-level changes. - Functional gene content for six major metabolic pathways remained largely stable at the whole-cohort level despite compositional shifts. - Study funding and material support were provided by Centenarians Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd.; several authors are employed by or affiliated with companies involved in sample provision and analysis, which the authors disclosed as competing interests. ## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points Abstract: Background: Dietary intervention can modulate the composition of gut microbial community. However, the consistency and magnitude of these changes may differ between individuals. Emerging evidence indicates that such variation is influenced by the baseline microbial composition and host characteristics, while variation in diet, lifestyle, and environmental exposures can further contribute to this heterogeneity. Shared-living settings, in which participants co-reside at a common site and consume a standardized diet, provide an opportunity to minimize variability arising from these external factors and to investigate the factors of microbiome composition and response to diet. In this study, we characterized the determinants of baseline gut microbial composition and evaluated the response to a short-term gut-friendly dietary intervention in a multi-ethnic cohort living under shared-living conditions. Methods. Forty-three adults from North India, South India and international backgrounds co-lived in a "pop-up village" for 15 days in a single-arm design. Participants followed a gut-friendly dietary regimen. Participants were stratified by body mass index (BMI) as overweight/obese (OW, [≥] 25) or non-overweight (Non-OW, < 25). Stool samples collected at baseline and at the end of the dietary intervention (43 participants, 86 samples) were profiled by Oxford Nanopore shotgun metagenomics. Samples were evaluated for taxonomic composition, alpha diversity (per-participant linear mixed-effects models), differential abundance (consensus across three tools: MaAsLin2, LinDA, ALDEx2), and assembly-based functional gene content for six important metabolic pathways. Results. At baseline, geographic region (p = 0.046) and BMI (p = 0.024) were the main factors to structure the community composition, whereas habitual diet type was not (p = 0.792). The intervention produced a small but highly reproducible shift, significant across all five distance metrics (p [≤] 0.003). The response was stronger among overweight (OW) participants, who showed a significant shift (p = 0.001), whereas non-overweight (Non-OW) participants did not (p = 0.181). The Timepoint with BMI interaction was significant for Bray-Curtis (p = 0.021) and Aitchison (p = 0.028) distances. Whole-cohort differential-abundance analysis identified depletion of the oral-associated species Streptococcus parasanguinis (q = 0.010) and Gemella sanguinis (q = 0.021), together with differential abundance of six genera, including decreased Actinomyces (q = 0.004) and increased Faecalibacterium (q = 0.016). Functional community composition of six major metabolic pathways remained largely stable at the whole-cohort level. Conclusion. A short, shared gut-friendly diet elicited a modest but coordinated shift in gut microbiome composition, characterized by depletion of several oral-associated pathobiont taxa and enrichment of fibre- fermenting taxa, with the community-level compositional shift observed predominantly among overweight participants. Keywords: Gut Microbiome, Dietary intervention, Shotgun Metagenomics, Pop-Up Village Study. ## Related Clinical Research - [Drain-Fluid Proteomics Identifies Procedure-Specific Signatures of Postoperative Anastomotic Leaka](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/medrxiv-10-longitudinal-drain-fluid-proteomics-reveals-procedure-specific-signatures-of.md) - [Cost-effective Chelex-100 Method for Genomic DNA Extraction from Zebrafish Tissues](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-6-a-rapid-and-cost-effective-chelex-100-resin-based-method-for-genomic-dna.md) - [Infliximab for Acute Pancreatitis (RAPID-I): Phase 2b Randomised Double-Blind Trial Protocol](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/bmj-open-14-randomised-treatment-of-acute-pancreatitis-with-infliximab-protocol-for-a.md) - [Fluid Shear Stress Drives Mechanoadaptive Fibroblast Remodeling and Early Fibrogenesis Signatures](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-17-ultrastructural-and-proteomic-signatures-of-mechanoadaptive-fibroblast.md) - [Association Between Helicobacter pylori Seropositivity and Dyslipidemia in General Health Checkup](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/medrxiv-0-association-of-helicobacter-pylori-infection-and-dyslipidemia-among-individuals.md) ## Navigation - [← Back to Gastroenterology Feed](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/gastroenterology.md) - [← All Clinical Specialties](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed.md) ## Medical & Regulatory Disclaimer > [!CAUTION] > MedicHelpline content is structured for research, educational, and professional discovery purposes. 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