Effects of ultra-strong static magnetic field on the gut microbiota of humans and mice

Objective: To investigate the effects of ultra-strong static magnetic field on the gut microbiota of humans and mice.Methods: The human and mice fecal samples were used as the study objects. The effects of 16-T ultra-strong static magnetic field on the structure and composition of humans and mice gut microbiota were studied using 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology.Results: In the mice gut microbiota, at the genus level, the 16-T magnetic field significantly decreased the relative abundances of Escherichia-Shigella, Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, Parasutterella, and Ralstonia and significantly increased those of Parabacteroides, Alloprevotella, Alistipes, Odoribacter, Bacteroides, Mucispirillum, Sutterella, and Prevotellaceae_UCG-001. Similarly, in the human gut microbiota, at the genus level, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, Romboutsia, and Streptococcus significantly decreased. Among these genera, the relative abundances of Bacteroides and Parabacteroides exhibited the opposite trend in the gut microbiota of humans and mice; their abundances significantly decreased in the human gut microbiota under 16-T, but increased in mice gut microbiota. The BugBase phenotypic prediction analysis of gut microbiota showed that the relative abundances of five phenotypes, including anaerobism, mobile elements, potential pathogenicity, Stress_Tolerant, and biofilm formation, changed significantly in the mice gut microbiota, while the relative abundances of two phenotypes, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative phenotypes, changed significantly in human gut microbiota.Conclusions: The 16-T ultra-strong magnetic field could differently affect the composition, structure, and phenotypes of gut microbiota in humans and mice, suggesting the importance of model selection in studying the biological effects of magnetic field.