The relative abundance of fecal bacterial species belonging to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla is related to plasma levels of bile acids in young adults

BACKGROUND: Gut bacteria play a crucial role in the metabolism of bile acids (BA). Whether an association exists between the fecal microbiota composition and circulating BA levels in humans is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationship between fecal microbiota diversity and composition with plasma levels of BA in young adults. METHODS: Fecal microbiota diversity/composition was analyzed with 16S rRNA sequencing in 80 young adults (74% women; 21.9 ± 2.2 years old). Plasma levels of BA were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. PERMANOVA and Spearman correlation analyses were used to investigate the association between fecal microbiota parameters and plasma levels of BA. RESULTS: Fecal microbiota beta (P = 0.025) and alpha diversity indexes of evenness (rho = 0.237, P = 0.033), Shannon (rho = 0.313, P = 0.004), and inverse Simpson (rho = 0.283, P = 0.010) were positively associated with plasma levels of the secondary BA glycolithocholic acid (GLCA). The relative abundance of genera belonging to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla was positively correlated with plasma levels of GLCA (all rho ≥ 0.225, P ≤ 0.049). However, the relative abundance of species from Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla were negatively correlated with plasma levels of primary and secondary BA (all rho ≤ − 0.220, P ≤ 0.045), except for the relative abundance of Bacteroides vulgatus, Alistipes onderdonkii, and Bacteroides xylanisolvens species (Bacteroidetes phylum) that were positively correlated with the plasma levels of GLCA. CONCLUSIONS: The relative abundance of specific fecal bacteria species is associated with plasma levels of BA in young adults. However, further investigations are required to validate whether the composition of the gut microbiota can regulate the plasma concentrations of BA in humans. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11306-023-02016-8.