Gut microbiota shift in Ghanaian individuals along the migration axis: the RODAM-Pros cohort.

Erik Beune, Bert-Jan H van den Born, Eva L van der Linden, Hilde Herrema, Charles Agyemang, Peter Henneman, Karlijn A C Meeks, Max Nieuwdorp, Sampson Twumasi-Ankrah, Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Barbara J H Verhaar, Charles F Hayfron-Benjamin, Samuel N Darko

Journal: Gut microbes 2025;17(1):2471960

PMID: 40188494

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Abstract

Migration is associated with a substantial change in environmental exposures and health outcomes. We aimed to investigate the shift in gut microbiota composition and the associations with cardiometabolic outcomes in the RODAM-Pros cohort spanning multiple research sites across continents. We determined gut microbiota composition of 1,177 Ghanaian participants in rural Ghana, urban Ghana, and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, using 16S rRNA sequencing. We observed a clear gradient in gut microbiota composition and alpha and beta diversity from rural Ghana to urban Ghana, to Amsterdam. We used pairwise XGBoost machine learning classification models to identify which microbes were most distinct between locations in prevalence and abundance. The associations between these microbes and the locations could partly be explained by differences in confounders such as dietary intake. Groups of microbes that emerged or disappeared along the migration axis were associated with cardiometabolic outcomes, including higher body mass index, higher HbA1c and higher diastolic blood pressure. Concluding, we identified associations between a shift in gut microbiota composition and cardiometabolic risk along the migration axis, underscoring the relevance of gut health in the context of migration-associated adverse health outcomes.

Address: Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Physiology, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana.; School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.; Department of Molecular Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.; Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.; Department of Human Genetics, Reproduction & Development, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.; Department of Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.; Department of Experimental Vascular Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2025.2471960

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Ghana, Male, Female, Adult, Middle Aged, Netherlands, Bacteria, Cohort Studies, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Rural Population, Feces, Urban Population, Human Migration