A dietary pattern promoting gut sulfur metabolism is associated with increased mortality and altered circulating metabolites in low-income American adults

作者：Kui Deng, Lei Wang, Sang M. Nguyen, Martha J. Shrubsole, Qiuyin Cai, Loren Lipworth, Deepak Gupta, Wei Zheng, Xiao-Ou Shu, Danxia Yu · 发表于：EBioMedicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.105690 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Sulfur Compounds in Biology、Gut microbiota and health、Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies

BACKGROUND: Excessive hydrogen sulfide in the gut, generated by sulfur-metabolising bacteria from foods, has been linked to intestinal inflammation and human diseases. We aim to investigate the interplay between diet and sulphur-metabolising bacteria in relation to mortality and circulating metabolites in understudied populations. METHODS: In the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS), a prospective cohort of primarily low-income American adults, habitual diets were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire at baseline (2002-2009). A sulfur microbial diet score (SMDS) was developed among 514 Black/African American participants by linking habitual dietary intakes with the abundance of sulfur-metabolising bacteria profiled by faecal shotgun metagenomics. The SMDS was then constructed among all eligible SCCS participants (50,114 Black/African American and 23,923 non-Hispanic White adults), and its associations with mortality outcomes were examined by Cox proportional hazards model and Fine-Grey subdistribution hazard model. The association between SMDS and 1110 circulating metabolites was examined by linear regression among 1688 SCCS participants with untargeted metabolomic profiling of baseline plasma samples. FINDINGS: Over an average 13.9-year follow-up, SMDS was associated with increased all-cause mortality (HR [95% CI] for the highest vs. lowest quartiles: 1.21 [1.15-1.27]) and cardiovascular disease (1.18 [1.08-1.29]), cancer (1.13 [1.02-1.25]), and gastrointestinal ca...