Plant Based Diet, Ethnicity, and the Gut Microbiome

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Samples will be collected to determine human genetic variation, fecal and oral microbial communities, and metabolome products. Several evolutionary and ecological diversity metrics will be distilled to test: a) if microbiome variation within each ethnicity is less than that between ethnicities; b) if microbiome variation is finely structured according to genetic relatedness; and c) if dietary variation impacts human genome x microbiome associations.

Detailed Description
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To characterize the human gut microbiome under highly controlled dietary intake in healthy normal weight adult participants who differ by ethnicity: White non-Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic adults. Samples will be collected to determine human genetic variation, fecal and oral microbial communities, and metabolome products. Several evolutionary and ecological diversity metrics will be distilled to test: a) if microbiome variation within each ethnicity is less than that between ethnicities; b) if microbiome variation is finely structured according to genetic relatedness; and c) if dietary variation impacts human genome x microbiome associations.

Official Title
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Plant Based Diet, Ethnicity, and the Gut Microbiome

Conditions
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Diet Modification, Microbial Colonization

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Plant Based Diet


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Female Age 18-40 BMI 18.5-24.9 Caucasian or African American Exclusion Criteria: Not weight stable Using Medications Using Dietary Supplements Chronic Disease Tobacco Use Drug Use Pregnant or Lactating Diet Restrictions Vegetarian or Vegan

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 40 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Pre Post Design
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Plant Based Diet Group<br>Study aims for two cohorts of 20 females each, being tested over 6 days in two conditions: habitual diet versus plant based diet. | Other: Plant Based Diet<br>* Plant Based Diet for 4 Days Compared to Habitual Diet<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Microbial Community Profile | A microbial community profile will be generated for each individual using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the 16S rDNA microbial gene sequence. This community profile of each subjects microbiome will be assessed from a minimum of 10,000 sequences per individual at multiple timepoints. The profile will be used to quantify how inter-individual variation of the microbiome varies across ethnicities. | 4 days |