The gut microbiota is associated with immune cell dynamics in humans

Jonas Schluter (), Jonathan U. Peled, Bradford P. Taylor, Kate A. Markey, Melody Smith, Ying Taur, Rene Niehus, Anna Staffas, Anqi Dai, Emily Fontana, Luigi A. Amoretti, Roberta J. Wright, Sejal Morjaria, Maly Fenelus, Melissa S. Pessin, Nelson J. Chao, Meagan Lew, Lauren Bohannon, Amy Bush, Anthony D. Sung, Tobias M. Hohl, Miguel-Angel Perales, Marcel R. M. Brink and Joao B. Xavier ()
Additional contact information
Jonas Schluter: NYU Langone Health
Jonathan U. Peled: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Bradford P. Taylor: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Kate A. Markey: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Melody Smith: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Ying Taur: Sloan Kettering Institute
Rene Niehus: Harvard University, T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Anna Staffas: University of Gothenburg
Anqi Dai: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Emily Fontana: Sloan Kettering Institute
Luigi A. Amoretti: Sloan Kettering Institute
Roberta J. Wright: Sloan Kettering Institute
Sejal Morjaria: Sloan Kettering Institute
Maly Fenelus: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Melissa S. Pessin: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Nelson J. Chao: Duke University School of Medicine
Meagan Lew: Duke University School of Medicine
Lauren Bohannon: Duke University School of Medicine
Amy Bush: Duke University School of Medicine
Anthony D. Sung: Duke University School of Medicine
Tobias M. Hohl: Sloan Kettering Institute
Miguel-Angel Perales: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Marcel R. M. Brink: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Joao B. Xavier: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Nature, 2020, vol. 588, issue 7837, 303-307

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2971-8

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