A standard analysis in human MADs is the comparison of replicated samples of microbiome diversity (usually measured with the number of microbial species or other more comprehensive metrics such as Shannon’s entropy) in healthy versus diseased. However, statistical tests or metrics that are standardized for sampling effects were not used in some of the analyses.
Using rigorous statistical tests developed by ecologists, researchers compared the richness of microbiome species and developed two new simulation algorithms to compare microbiome species composition.
For species richness, in only approximately 1/3 of the tested cases, the MAD diseases and microbiome diversity are related. In the remaining cases, the differences were no larger than expected by chance. However, in most studies there were significant differences in microbiome species composition between diseased and healthy individuals, which could help researchers in the development of diagnostic tests and early warning indicators of disease.
The finding highlights the importance of further mechanistic and/or etiological studies for deepening the inquiry into this important category of human diseases, and ultimately, for more precise and personalized diagnosis and treatments.
The research team has been investigating the relationships between MADs and other alternative ecological indicators, as well as the possible ecological/etiological mechanisms underlying the “1/3 diversity-disease relationship (DDR) conjecture”.
Diversity-disease relationships and shared species analyses for human microbiome-associated diseases
Human breast milk is considered the most ideal source of nutrition for infants and it should have played a critical role in the evolution and civilizations of human beings. Unlike our intuitive perception, human milk contains a large number of bacterial species, including some opportunistic pathogens of humans. This phenomenon comes as no surprise to scientists and physicians.
Chinese researchers have developed an online platform for the data management, analysis, and release of microbial genomics and microbiome, according to the website of Chinese Academy of Sciences on Tuesday. The Global Catalogue of Metagenomics (gcMeta) is a part of the "Chinese Academy of Sciences Initiative of Microbiome (CAS-CMI)", which focuses on studying the human and environmental microbiome, establishing depositories of samples, strains, and data, as well as promoting international collaboration.
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