The interplay between gut microbiota, diet, and circadian rhythms, with Dr. Vanessa Leone PhD
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This episode features Dr. Vanessa Leone PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison on how gut microbes and eating patterns impact the host circadian system and overall health. In mouse models, Dr. Leone has found that in a 24-hour period, minor changes occur in the composition of the gut microbiota, while more important changes occur in gut microbiota function (that is, metabolite production). However, these changes depend on the type of diet and the timing of meal consumption. Metabolic health is also affected by this interplay. In humans, obesity is correlated with loss of microbiota rhythmicity, although causality remains unclear. One study by Dirk Haller found that a loss of rhythmicity helped predict which people with prediabetes would progress to diabetes. Constantly shifting timezones (or shifting between day and night shifts) appears to be more detrimental to metabolic health than maintaining a constant schedule, and research is ongoing about what might mitigate these effects. In this field of research it’s important to consider people’s chronotype: their tendency to rise early versus stay up late. In the future, Dr. Leone hopes to untangle more about how different factors affect metabolic health: diet, gut microbiota, and the circadian system.
Episode abbreviations and links:
- Paper from the lab of Dirk Haller showing that 13 OTUs lost rhythms in those with prediabetes, predicting who might develop diabetes: Arrhythmic Gut Microbiome Signatures Predict Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- Review paper: Daily Eating Patterns and Their Impact on Health and Disease
- Paper on the importance of timing in microbiome sample collection: Time of sample collection is critical for the replicability of microbiome analyses
- University of Wisconsin – Madison Leone Lab webpage
About Dr. Vanessa Leone PhD:
Vanessa A. Leone, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal & Dairy Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also obtained a Ph.D. She performed postdoctoral studies and was an Instructor of Medicine at the University of Chicago in the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition where she examined how the gut microbiome impacts complex metabolic diseases. Dr. Leone currently studies how day vs. night oscillatory patterns of gut microbes influence the body’s internal clock and metabolism. She hopes to mechanistically define what constitutes a microbial oscillator versus a non-oscillator, examine how host factors impact the broader diurnal structure and functional outputs of the gut microbiome, and to determine how microbial oscillations impact host metabolism. These findings will likely pave the way to identify how timed delivery of pre-, pro-, or postbiotics can be leveraged to promote a balanced gut microbiota and improve host health.
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