ArticleBMJ open2020
Does geographical variation confound the relationship between host factors and the human gut microbiota: a population-based study in China.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Engineered bacteria and engineered probiotics for intestinal disease therapy: a bibliometric and knowledge mapping analysis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Microbiome and aging: Trajectories of microbiome age across human ecosystems and their systemic effects.iMeta · 2026Review
- Observational
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- From parasite-induced immune activation to neuroinflammation and behavioral dysfunction: convergent mechanisms across protozoa and helminths: a review.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Review
- The human skin microbiome: factors affecting individuality and application in forensic investigations.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Review
- Probiotics as Microbiome Modulators in Male Infertility: Rethinking Dysbiosis Across the Gut-Testis Axis.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- From niche to niche: investigating microbial communities and their specialised metabolite gene clusters in human microbiomes.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- The Biosocial Microbiome: Gender Identity, Geography, and Mucosal Microbial Phenotypes.Research square · 2026Article
- Associations among physical activity, diet, non-lifestyle characteristics and the gut microbiome of cancer patients: A scoping review and network analysis.Oncoscience · 2026Review
- The role of gut microbiome in the pathophysiology of PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders.Gut microbes reports · 2026Review
- Uncovering the gut microbiome and antibiotic resistome of mammals on the Tibetan Plateau.Science China. Life sciences · 2025Article
- Long-term body mass index trajectories and dyslipidemia and related gut microbial features: results from the China health and nutrition survey 1991-2018.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Microbiota Gut-Brain Axis and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives.Nutrients · 2025Review
- A contributory citizen science project reveals the impact of dietary keys to microbiome health in Spain.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Multi-trajectories of BMI, waist circumference, gut microbiota, and incident dyslipidemia: a 27-year prospective study.mSystems · 2025Article
- The Gut Microbiota and Colorectal Cancer: Understanding the Link and Exploring Therapeutic Interventions.Biology · 2025Review
- Cross-generational mechanisms of maternal gut microbiota in modulating offspring autism spectrum disorder risk: from the gut-brain axis to translational challenges in precision interventions.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Review
- Therapeutic Modulation of the Microbiome in Oncology: Current Trends and Future Directions.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2025Review
- Gut-microbiota-based ensemble model predicts prognosis of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.iScience · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe human gut microbiota plays important roles in human health but is also known to be highly diverse between populations from different regions. Yet most studies inadequately account for this regional diversity in their analyses. This study examines the extent to which geographical variation can act as a confounding variable for studies that associate the microbiota with human phenotypic variation.
designPopulation-based study.
settingChina.
participants2164 participants from 15 province-level divisions in China. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We analysed the impact of geographic location on associations between the human gut microbiota and 72 host factors representing a wide variety of environmental-level, household-level and individual-level factors.
resultsWhile the gut microbiota varied across a wide range of host factors including urbanisation, occupation and dietary variables, the geographic region (province/megacity) of the participants explained the largest proportion of the variance (17.9%). The estimated effect sizes for other host factors varied substantially by region with little evidence of a reproducible signal across different areas as measured by permutational multivariate analysis of variance and random forest models.
conclusionsOur results suggest that geographic variation is an essential factor that should be explicitly considered when generalising microbiota-based models to host phenotype across different populations.
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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.