Effect of Normal Dietary Intake and Medium Chain Triglycerides Supplementation on the Human Microbiome

The human gut microbiome is the community of bacteria that reside within the human intestine. These microbes are constantly exposed to the end-products and partial break-down-products of digestion from the foods consumed each day. Very little is known about the complex interaction of specific dietary components with the microbiome over time in one individual. In order to produce robust analysis of these interactions, longitudinal samples with detailed dietary intake information from healthy human subjects are needed.

The complex relationship between dietary intake and the microbiome, and the potential health implications of human exposure to microbial metabolites, are only beginning to be understood. It is well known that altered dietary intake can trigger rapid, although transient, changes in the composition of the microbiome in as little as 1 to 2 days. The biggest factors in determining microbial response to diet are thought to include an individual's starting microbiome, long-term dietary habits, and environmental exposures.

It is not well understood how small dietary differences from day-to-day impact the microbiome. A longitudinal dataset with accurately recorded dietary data and multiple samples over 17 days will provide valuable insight into the changes that occur at the individual level over time, while controlling for dietary trends and initial microbiome composition.

Medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) have systemic beneficial effects and increase survival in rats by preventing gut injury and permeability following lipopolysaccharide administration, preventing alcohol-induced liver injury, and protecting against the development of colitis in a model of Crohn's disease. Understanding the interaction of MCTs with the microbiome in humans could lead to important advancements in the understanding of how diet impacts the microbiome composition, and ultimately, human health. This proposed study is designed to evaluate the effect of MCTs compared with long chain triglycerides on the normal structure of the microbiome and data will not be used to diagnose, prevent, cure or treat disease.

The purpose of this study is to: 1) investigate the role daily dietary variation plays in microbiome composition and stability, and 2) explore the effect of MCT supplementation on microbiome composition in healthy adults.