The gut microbiota is associated with immune cell dynamics in humans Journal Article


Authors: Schluter, J.; Peled, J. U.; Taylor, B. P.; Markey, K. A.; Smith, M.; Taur, Y.; Niehus, R.; Staffas, A.; Dai, A.; Fontana, E.; Amoretti, L. A.; Wright, R. J.; Morjaria, S.; Fenelus, M.; Pessin, M. S.; Chao, N. J.; Lew, M.; Bohannon, L.; Bush, A.; Sung, A. D.; Hohl, T. M.; Perales, M. A.; van den Brink, M. R. M.; Xavier, J. B.
Article Title: The gut microbiota is associated with immune cell dynamics in humans
Abstract: The gut microbiota influences development1–3 and homeostasis4–7 of the mammalian immune system, and is associated with human inflammatory8 and immune diseases9,10 as well as responses to immunotherapy11–14. Nevertheless, our understanding of how gut bacteria modulate the immune system remains limited, particularly in humans, where the difficulty of direct experimentation makes inference challenging. Here we study hundreds of hospitalized—and closely monitored—patients with cancer receiving haematopoietic cell transplantation as they recover from chemotherapy and stem-cell engraftment. This aggressive treatment causes large shifts in both circulatory immune cell and microbiota populations, enabling the relationships between the two to be studied simultaneously. Analysis of observed daily changes in circulating neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts and more than 10,000 longitudinal microbiota samples revealed consistent associations between gut bacteria and immune cell dynamics. High-resolution clinical metadata and Bayesian inference allowed us to compare the effects of bacterial genera in relation to those of immunomodulatory medications, revealing a considerable influence of the gut microbiota—together and over time—on systemic immune cell dynamics. Our analysis establishes and quantifies the link between the gut microbiota and the human immune system, with implications for microbiota-driven modulation of immunity. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
Keywords: adult; controlled study; human cell; major clinical study; nonhuman; chemotherapy; mammalia; immune system; hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; bacteria (microorganisms); engraftment; immune response; neutrophil; quantitative analysis; public health; intestine flora; lymphocyte; medicine; bacterium; microbial community; microbiota; cell component; human; male; female; article; metadata; monocyte count; environmental samples (bacteria)
Journal Title: Nature
Volume: 588
Issue: 7837
ISSN: 0028-0836
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group  
Date Published: 2020-12-10
Start Page: 303
End Page: 307
Language: English
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2971-8
PUBMED: 33239790
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC7725892
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 4 January 2021 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Tobias Martin Hohl
    105 Hohl
  2. Miguel-Angel Perales
    915 Perales
  3. Joao Debivar Xavier
    97 Xavier
  4. Ying Taur
    147 Taur
  5. Melody Smith
    33 Smith
  6. Jonathan U Peled
    155 Peled
  7. Emily Fontana
    31 Fontana
  8. Maly Fenelus
    13 Fenelus
  9. Bradford P Taylor
    9 Taylor
  10. Kate Ann Markey
    38 Markey
  11. Roberta Justine Wright
    15 Wright
  12. Anqi Dai
    26 Dai