Feasibility of collection and analysis of microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized trial of community gardening.

Mireia Gascon, Kylie K Harrall, Alyssa W Beavers, Deborah H Glueck, Maggie A Stanislawski, Katherine Alaimo, Angel Villalobos, James R Hebert, Kelsey Dexter, Kaigang Li, Jill Litt

Journal: Future microbiology 2021;15(8):633-648

PMID: 32495698

Abstract

We explored the feasibility of collecting and analyzing human microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of community gardening. Participants were randomly assigned to gardening (N = 8) or control (N = 8). Participants provided stool, mouth, hand and forehead microbiome samples at six timepoints. Analyses combined mixed models with Qiita output. Participant satisfaction was high, with 75% of participants completing evaluations. While no microbial effects were statistically significant due to small sample size, the analysis pipeline utility was tested. Longitudinal collection and analysis of microbiome data in a community gardening randomized controlled trial is feasible. The analysis pipeline will be useful in larger studies for assessment of the pathway between microbiota, gardening and health outcomes.

Address: ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain.; Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes Center, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO 800455, USA.; Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 488246, USA.; Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 800457, USA.; Department of Epidemiology, University of Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 800458, USA.; Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 488246, USA.; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Colombia, SC 8030310, USA.; Department of Endocrinology, University of Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 2920811, USA.; Department of Health & Exercise Science, Colorado State University, CO 8004512, USA.
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