The effects of high doses of vitamin D on the composition of the gut microbiome of adolescent girls
Seyed-Amir Tabatabaeizadeh Clinical Nutrition ESPEN: February 2020 (Volume 35)
Background
Animal studies suggest that vitamin D can change the gut microbiome. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a high dose supplementation of vitamin D on the composition of the gut microbiome.
Methods
After DNA extraction, TaqMan assays were used for the quantitation of selected microbiome in the feces of 50 adolescent girls before and after vitamin D supplementation.
Results
The expression fold changes for Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were; 1.05, 1.20, 0.76, 0.28 and 1.50 respectively. Bacteroidetes and Lactobacillus fell by 72% (P < 0.0001) and 24% (P = 0.006) respectively, whilst Firmicutes and Bifidobacterium were increased by 1.5 (P < 0.0001), 1.2 (P < 0.0001) fold after supplementation.
Conclusion
Our results suggested that a high dose supplementation of vitamin D alter the human gut microbiome composition. Future studies are required for a better understanding of the mechanisms by which vitamin D affects the gut microbiome.