ArticleNature communications2024
Diet changes due to urbanization in South Africa are linked to microbiome and metabolome signatures of Westernization and colorectal cancer.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spatiotemporal dynamics of the host-tumor metabolic interface: Implications for precision nutritional oncology.Genes & diseases · 2026Review
- Global landscape and temporal trends in lifetime risk of colorectal cancer in 185 countries: a population-based study.Cancer biology & medicine · 2026Article
- Emerging trends in the global burden of colorectal cancer.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2026Review
- Metabotherapy for intestinal disease: using metabolites to prevent and treat disorders of the gut.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
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- Inflammation and Colorectal Cancer Pathogenesis: Molecular, Immunological, and Environmental Features for Therapy Response and Resistances.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
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- Childhood appendectomy is linked with higher digestive, respiratory, and genitourinary disease risk but lower inflammatory bowel disease risk.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
- Pleiotropic immunoregulation by bile acids in pathophysiology.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
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- A Review of Global Patterns in Gut Microbiota Composition, Health and Disease: Locating South Africa in the Conversation.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Maternal consumption of urbanized diet compromises early-life health in association with gut microbiota.Gut microbes · 2025Review
- Ketone ester supplementation protects from experimental colitis via improved goblet cell differentiation and function.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Safeguarding microbial biodiversity: microbial conservation specialist group within the species survival commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2025Article
- Analyzing human gut microbiome data from global populations: challenges and resources.Trends in microbiology · 2025Review
- Host transcriptional responses to gut microbiome variation arising from urbanism.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Exploring the influence of urbanization on gut mycobiota through dietary habits in Burkina Faso.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Trend analysis and epidemiological forecasting of colorectal Cancer mortality among reproductive-age women in sub-Saharan Africa.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
27 authors at 11 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Transition from traditional high-fiber to Western diets in urbanizing communities of Sub-Saharan Africa is associated with increased risk of non-communicable diseases (NCD), exemplified by colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. To investigate how urbanization gives rise to microbial patterns that may be amenable by dietary intervention, we analyzed diet intake, fecal 16 S bacteriome, virome, and metabolome in a cross-sectional study in healthy rural and urban Xhosa people (South Africa). Urban Xhosa individuals had higher intakes of energy (urban: 3,578 ± 455; rural: 2,185 ± 179 kcal/d), fat and animal protein. This was associated with lower fecal bacteriome diversity and a shift from genera favoring degradation of complex carbohydrates (e.g., Prevotella) to taxa previously shown to be associated with bile acid metabolism and CRC. Urban Xhosa individuals had higher fecal levels of deoxycholic acid, shown to be associated with higher CRC risk, but similar short-chain fatty acid concentrations compared with rural individuals. Fecal virome composition was associated with distinct gut bacterial communities across urbanization, characterized by different dominant host bacteria (urban: Bacteriodota; rural: unassigned taxa) and variable correlation with fecal metabolites and dietary nutrients. Food and skin microbiota samples showed compositional differences along the urbanization gradient. Rural-urban dietary transition in South Africa is linked to major changes in the gut microbiome and metabolome. Further studies are needed to prove cause and identify whether restoration of specific components of the traditional diet will arrest the accelerating rise in NCDs in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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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.