ArticleScientific reports2019
Close social relationships correlate with human gut microbiota composition.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 121 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
121 citing papers in PubMed, 246 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparing gut resistome composition among patients with acute Campylobacter infections and healthy family members.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Profiling Gut Microbiome and Metabolites Aids Diagnosis and Prediction of Progression in Mild Cognitive Impairment.MedComm · 2026Article
- Forensic Microbiomics and Trace Microbial Evidence: Molecular Innovations for Linking Suspects, Objects, and Environments.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Hematological consequences of environmental change during dewilding of rhesus macaques.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The gut microbiome shapes social behaviour across animal species.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Society and the Microbiome: A Biopsychosocial Window Into Comprehensive Well-Being: A Review.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Social Structure and Interactions Differentially Shape Aerotolerant and Anaerobic Gut Microbiomes in a Cooperative Breeding Species.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Shaping the Female Microbiome: A Review of Lifestyle Factors Influencing the Vaginal, Gut, Oral, and Skin Microenvironments.Microbial ecology · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome composition and strain-sharing in multiplex autism spectrum disorder families.Nature communications · 2026Article
- MASLD Under the Umbrella of the Microbiota: A Narrative Review on Ecological Risk and Functional Transmissibility.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Dysbiotic shift in the oral microbiota of patients with Alzheimer's disease compared to their healthy life partners-a combinatorial approach and a paired study design.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2026Article
- Social bonds and health: exploring the impact of social relations on oxytocin and brain-gut communication in shaping obesity.Gut microbes · 2025Article
- The microbial guardians: Unveiling the role of gut microbiota in shaping neurodegenerative disease.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Review
- Early-life gut and oral microbiota development: a multi-niche study including mother-partner-infant triads.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Hematological Consequences of Environmental Change During Dewilding of Rhesus Macaques.Research square · 2025Article
- Associations between sleep and the gut microbiome in adults with colorectal cancer and their caregivers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A comprehensive atlas of the bonobo gut bacteriome and its associated host and exposome factors.Cell reports · 2025Article
- Social Microbial Transmission in a Solitary Mammal.Ecology letters · 2025Article
- Intraspecies warfare restricts strain coexistence in human skin microbiomes.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
61 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Social relationships shape human health and mortality via behavioral, psychosocial, and physiological mechanisms, including inflammatory and immune responses. Though not tested in human studies, recent primate studies indicate that the gut microbiome may also be a biological mechanism linking relationships to health. Integrating microbiota data into the 60-year-old Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we found that socialness with family and friends is associated with differences in the human fecal microbiota. Analysis of spouse (N = 94) and sibling pairs (N = 83) further revealed that spouses have more similar microbiota and more bacterial taxa in common than siblings, with no observed differences between sibling and unrelated pairs. These differences held even after accounting for dietary factors. The differences between unrelated individuals and married couples was driven entirely by couples who reported close relationships; there were no differences in similarity between couples reporting somewhat close relationships and unrelated individuals. Moreover, married individuals harbor microbial communities of greater diversity and richness relative to those living alone, with the greatest diversity among couples reporting close relationships, which is notable given decades of research documenting the health benefits of marriage. These results suggest that human interactions, especially sustained, close marital relationships, influence the gut microbiota.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.