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The Indian gut microbiota—Is it unique?

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Indian Journal of Gastroenterology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Colonization of the gut by microbes depends on a number of factors including age, diet, genetic makeup, gender, geographic location, and health status of an individual. India is a megadiverse country and includes 4 biodiversity hot spots. These features, along with the transitioning Indian sociodemographic profile, make the gut microbiota of Indian subjects an interesting area to study. In this review, we critically discuss the present status of the gut microbiome in the Indian population and its difference from other populations. We also discuss the aberrations in the available study designs that could introduce heterogeneity. An ideal study to evaluate the core gut microbiota of healthy Indians should involve a large homogeneous population across the country and use the same technology and data analytics tools. The “Landscape of Gut Microbiome-Pan India Exploration” (LogMPIE) is such a study that confirmed the most predominant organisms in Indians to be Prevotella copri and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii.

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Funding

This manuscript has been supported by a Wellcome DBT India Alliance fellowship to Rupjyoti Talukdar (No. IA/CPHS/17/1/503358).

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Author notes

  1. Priyanjali Pulipati and Priyanka Sarkar have equally contributed to the development of the manuscript.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, 500 032, India

    Priyanjali Pulipati, Misbah Unnisa, D. Nageshwar Reddy & Rupjyoti Talukdar

  2. Gut Microbiome Research Group (India Alliance Labs.), Institute of Translational Research, Asian Healthcare Foundation, Hyderabad, 500 032, India

    Priyanka Sarkar, Aparna Jakkampudi, Subhaleena Sarkar & Rupjyoti Talukdar

  3. Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA

    Vishal Kaila

  4. Molecular Biology and Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Life Science Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, 781 035, India

    Mojibur Khan

  5. Division of Gut Microbial Research, Department of Gastroenterology, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Institute of Translational Research, Asian Healthcare Foundation, Survey No 136, Plot No 2/3/4/5, 1, Mindspace Road, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, 500 032, India

    Rupjyoti Talukdar

Authors
  1. Priyanjali Pulipati
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  2. Priyanka Sarkar
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  3. Aparna Jakkampudi
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  6. Misbah Unnisa
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  7. D. Nageshwar Reddy
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  8. Mojibur Khan
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  9. Rupjyoti Talukdar
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Contributions

Priyanjali Pulipati and Priyanka Sarkar—review of the literature and drafting of the manuscript; Aparna Jakkampudi, Vishal Kaila, Subhaleena Sarkar, and Misbah Unnisa—assistance in drafting and revising the manuscript; D. Nageshwar Reddy—provided intellectual inputs; Mojibur Khan—critically reviewed the manuscripts and provided intellectual inputs; Rupjyoti Talukdar—drafted, critically reviewed, and edited the manuscript and gave the final approval.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rupjyoti Talukdar.

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PP, PS, AJ, VK, SS, MU, DNR, MK, and RT declare that they have no conflict of interests.

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Pulipati, P., Sarkar, P., Jakkampudi, A. et al. The Indian gut microbiota—Is it unique?. Indian J Gastroenterol 39, 133–140 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12664-020-01037-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12664-020-01037-8

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