Crowley et al., 2018

Dietary Supplementation with a Magnesium-Rich Marine Mineral Blend Enhances the Diversity of Gastrointestinal Microbiota


EK Crowley, CM Long-Smith, A Murphy, E Patterson, K Murphy, DM O’Gorman, C Stanton and YM Nolan,

University College Cork


Marine Drugs 2018

Background: 

Deficiencies in Calcium and Magnesium intake have been associated with health problems. It is now recognized that modulating the diversity of gut microbiota (the population of intestinal bacteria) through dietary intervention can significantly impact upon gut & general health.

Study Details: 

Rats were maintained for 6 weeks on either a control diet or supplemented with 0.1% or 0.2% Marine Mineral Blend (MMB) consisting of 50:50 mix of Aquamin F: Aquamin Mg.

Results:

  • There were no differences in weight gain, food intake or general locomotor activity.
  • There was a significant difference in the total number of observed species of bacteria measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing between all groups (p = 0.004; Fig 1A). The MMB-0.1% group contained significantly more bacterial species than the control group (p < 0.01).
  • The Chao1 index, reflecting species richness, showed a significant increase in species in theMMB-0.1% supplemented group when compared to control (p < 0.05).
  • There was a significant change in beta-diversity between the groups (p=0.014, Fig 1B).
  • Differences in the relative abundance between groups were seen at all taxonomic levels(phylum, family and genus) with the significantly different taxa shown in bold. Fig 2A,B,C.
  • Short-chain fatty acid composition differed between groups, with increased amounts ofpropionate and butyrate in the MMB-0.1% group.
  1. Conclusions:
  2.  Dietary supplementation of MMB for 6 weeks resulted in a significant increase of gut microbial diversity. Decreased diversity is implicated in the pathophysiology of several immune and metabolic disorders, as well as in neurological and psychiatric disorders.
  3. Furthermore, increased propionate and butyrate are reported to have anti-inflammatory effects. This animal study paves the way for similar trials in humans in an effort to improve both gut and overall health.
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