ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Gut Microbes and Their Metabolites in Metabolic Diseases: Mechanisms and Therapeutic TargetsView all 30 articles
Long-term effects of altitude on changes in intestinal flora in a young and middle-aged population: a longitudinal analysis before and after 6 months of entry to high altitude
Provisionally accepted
- 940th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese PLA, Gansu, China
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The low oxygen environment of high altitude predisposes to imbalances in gut flora and changes in metabolites that can affect metabolic health. The relationship between gut flora and the health of sedentary populations at high altitude has been extensively studied. However, the dynamic changes of gut flora and its metabolomics after entering high altitude and the long-term effects on the health of young and middle-aged people have not been studied enough. This study aims to investigate the patterns of gut microbiota and metabolomics changes in middle-aged and young adults during the week preceding ascent to 4500 meters above sea level and within the six months following high-altitude exposure. A total of 70 healthy young and middle-aged people were collected from November 2023 to June 2024 from an altitude of about 1600m to 4500m, and their stool samples were collected. 16S rRNA sequencing and liquid-liquid-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to detect the changes in the composition of the gut microorganisms and the differential metabolites of the intestinal tract in the young and middle-aged people before and after they entered the altitude, and the changes in the abundance and composition of the gut flora and their metabolomics were analysed. Abundance and composition and the changes in their metabolomics.
Keywords: high altitude, Young and middle-aged, intestinal flora, Metabolites, 16S rRNA
Received: 08 Sep 2025; Accepted: 14 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kan, Yuan, Zhao, Sun, li, Huo and zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
farong Huo, 304112344@qq.com
xiaoyan zhang, zhangxiaoyan060110@163.com
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