Original data of Correlations Between Intestinal Microbial Community and Hematological Profile in Native Tibetans and Han Immigrants

Hematological
features are one of the best-known aspects of high-altitude adaptation in
Tibetans. However, it is still
unclear whether the intestinal microbiota is associated with the hematology profile. In this study, routine blood tests
and 16S rRNA gene sequencing were used to investigate the differences in the intestinal
microbiota and hematological parameters of native Tibetan herders and Han immigrants
sampled at 3900 m.
The blood test results suggested that the platelet counts were significantly
higher in native Tibetans than the Han immigrants. The feces of the native
Tibetans had significantly greater microbial diversity (more different species: simpson’s and shannon’s indices) than that of the Han immigrants.
The native Tibetans also had a different fecal microbial community structure than
the Han immigrants. A Bray-Curtis distance-based
redundancy analysis and envfit function test showed that body mass index (BMI)
and platelet count were significant explanatory variables that correlated with
the fecal microbial community structure in native Tibetans. Spearman’s
correlation analysis showed that Megamonas correlated positively with BMI, whereas Bifidobacterium correlated negatively with BMI.
Alistipes and Parabacteroides correlated positively with the platelet count. Succinivibrio correlated positively with
SpO2. Intestinibacter correlated
negatively with the red blood cell count, hemoglobin and hematocrit (HCT). Romboutsia correlated negatively with
HCT, whereas Phascolarctobacterium correlated
positively with HCT. A functional
analysis showed that the functional capacity of the gut microbial community
in the native Tibetans was significantly related to carbohydrate metabolism. These
findings suggest that the hematological profile is associated with the fecal microbial
community, which may influence the high-altitude adaptation/ acclimatization of
Tibetans.

血液学特征是藏族人群高原适应机制中最为熟知的方面之一。然而目前仍不清楚肠道菌群（intestinal microbiota）是否与血液学表型（hematology profile）存在关联。本研究采用血常规检测与16S rRNA基因测序（16S rRNA gene sequencing）技术，对海拔3900米处采样的世居藏族牧民与汉族移民的肠道菌群及血液学参数差异展开探究。
血常规结果显示，世居藏族人群的血小板计数（platelet counts）显著高于汉族移民。世居藏族人群的粪便微生物多样性（microbial diversity）显著高于汉族移民（辛普森指数（Simpson’s index）与香农指数（Shannon’s index）均更高），且其粪便微生物群落结构（microbial community structure）也与汉族移民存在显著差异。
基于布莱-柯蒂斯距离（Bray-Curtis distance）的冗余分析（redundancy analysis）与envfit函数（envfit function）检验结果表明，身体质量指数（body mass index, BMI）与血小板计数是与世居藏族人群粪便微生物群落结构显著相关的解释变量。斯皮尔曼相关分析（Spearman’s correlation analysis）结果显示：巨单胞菌属（Megamonas）与BMI呈正相关，双歧杆菌属（Bifidobacterium）与BMI呈负相关；阿里氏菌属（Alistipes）与副杆菌属（Parabacteroides）与血小板计数呈正相关；琥珀酸弧菌属（Succinivibrio）与脉搏血氧饱和度（SpO2）呈正相关；肠杆菌属（Intestinibacter）与红细胞计数（red blood cell count）、血红蛋白（hemoglobin）及血细胞比容（hematocrit, HCT）呈负相关；罗姆布茨菌属（Romboutsia）与HCT呈负相关，而考拉杆菌属（Phascolarctobacterium）与HCT呈正相关。
功能分析（functional analysis）结果显示，世居藏族人群的肠道微生物群落功能潜能与碳水化合物代谢（carbohydrate metabolism）显著相关。上述研究结果表明，血液学表型与粪便微生物群落存在关联，这或可对藏族人群的高原适应/习服（high-altitude adaptation/ acclimatization）产生影响。