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Everett C, Li C, Wilkinson JE, Nguyen LH, McIver LJ, Ivey K, Izard J, Palacios N, Eliassen AH, Willett WC, Ascherio A, Sun Q, Tworoger SS, Chan AT, Garrett WS, Huttenhower C, Rimm EB, Song M. Overview of the Microbiome Among Nurses study (Micro-N) as an example of prospective characterization of the microbiome within cohort studies. Nat Protoc 2021; 16:2724-2731. [PMID: 33883746 DOI: 10.1038/s41596-021-00519-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
A lack of prospective studies has been a major barrier for assessing the role of the microbiome in human health and disease on a population-wide scale. To address this significant knowledge gap, we have launched a large-scale collection targeting fecal and oral microbiome specimens from 20,000 women within the Nurses' Health Study II cohort (the Microbiome Among Nurses study, or Micro-N). Leveraging the rich epidemiologic data that have been repeatedly collected from this cohort since 1989; the established biorepository of archived blood, urine, buccal cell, and tumor tissue specimens; the available genetic and biomarker data; the cohort's ongoing follow-up; and the BIOM-Mass microbiome research platform, Micro-N furnishes unparalleled resources for future prospective studies to interrogate the interplay between host, environmental factors, and the microbiome in human health. These prospectively collected materials will provide much-needed evidence to infer causality in microbiome-associated outcomes, paving the way toward development of microbiota-targeted modulators, preventives, diagnostics and therapeutics. Here, we describe a generalizable, scalable and cost-effective platform used for stool and oral microbiome specimen and metadata collection in the Micro-N study as an example of how prospective studies of the microbiome may be carried out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Everett
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Chengchen Li
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jeremy E Wilkinson
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Long H Nguyen
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lauren J McIver
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kerry Ivey
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Infection and Immunity Theme, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.,Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Jacques Izard
- Food Science and Technology Department, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA.,Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
| | - Natalia Palacios
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Public Health, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA
| | - A Heather Eliassen
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Walter C Willett
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alberto Ascherio
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Qi Sun
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shelley S Tworoger
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Cancer Epidemiology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Andrew T Chan
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Wendy S Garrett
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular Metabolism, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Curtis Huttenhower
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Eric B Rimm
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mingyang Song
- Harvard Chan Microbiome in Public Health Center, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. .,Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. .,Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. .,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. .,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
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Byrd DA, Chen J, Vogtmann E, Hullings A, Song SJ, Amir A, Kibriya MG, Ahsan H, Chen Y, Nelson H, Knight R, Shi J, Chia N, Sinha R. Reproducibility, stability, and accuracy of microbial profiles by fecal sample collection method in three distinct populations. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0224757. [PMID: 31738775 PMCID: PMC6860998 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The gut microbiome likely plays a role in the etiology of multiple health conditions, especially those affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Little consensus exists as to the best, standard methods to collect fecal samples for future microbiome analysis. We evaluated three distinct populations (N = 132 participants) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data to investigate the reproducibility, stability, and accuracy of microbial profiles in fecal samples collected and stored via fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or Flinders Technology Associates (FTA) cards, fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) tubes, 70% and 95% ethanol, RNAlater, or with no solution. For each collection method, based on relative abundance of select phyla and genera, two alpha diversity metrics, and four beta diversity metrics, we calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) to estimate reproducibility and stability, and Spearman correlation coefficients (SCCs) to estimate accuracy of the fecal microbial profile. Comparing duplicate samples, reproducibility ICCs for all collection methods were excellent (ICCs ≥75%). After 4–7 days at ambient temperature, ICCs for microbial profile stability were excellent (≥75%) for most collection methods, except those collected via no-solution and 70% ethanol. SCCs comparing each collection method to immediately-frozen no-solution samples ranged from fair to excellent for most methods; however, accuracy of genus-level relative abundances differed by collection method. Our findings, taken together with previous studies and feasibility considerations, indicated that FOBT/FTA cards, FIT tubes, 95% ethanol, and RNAlater are excellent choices for fecal sample collection methods in future microbiome studies. Furthermore, establishing standard collection methods across studies is highly desirable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doratha A. Byrd
- Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Jun Chen
- Microbiome Program, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Emily Vogtmann
- Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Autumn Hullings
- Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Se Jin Song
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Amnon Amir
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Muhammad G. Kibriya
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Habibul Ahsan
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Yu Chen
- New York School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Heidi Nelson
- Microbiome Program, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Rob Knight
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Jianxin Shi
- Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Nicholas Chia
- Microbiome Program, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
- Biomedical Engineering and Physiology, Mayo College, Rochester, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Rashmi Sinha
- Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
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Sinha R, Vogtmann E, Chen J, Amir A, Shi J, Sampson J, Flores R, Knight R, Chia N. Fecal Microbiome in Epidemiologic Studies-Response. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016; 25:870-1. [PMID: 26961994 DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-16-0161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rashmi Sinha
- Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland.
| | - Emily Vogtmann
- Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland. Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Division of Cancer Prevention, NIH, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Jun Chen
- Microbiome Program, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Amnon Amir
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Jianxin Shi
- Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Joshua Sampson
- Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Roberto Flores
- Nutritional Science Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, NIH, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Rob Knight
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California. Department of Computer Science & Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Nicholas Chia
- Microbiome Program, Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Biomedical Engineering and Physiology, Mayo College, Rochester, Minnesota.
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