TY - JOUR
T1 - Relationship Functioning and Gut Microbiota Composition among Older Adult Couples
AU - Cheng, Qiwen
AU - Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa
AU - DiBaise, John K.
AU - Maldonado, Juan
AU - Guest, M. Aaron
AU - Todd, Michael
AU - Langer, Shelby L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by an award from the Center for Innovation in Healthy and Resilient Aging within the College of Nursing and Health Innovation at Arizona State University, #PG13061 (PI Shelby Langer).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - An emerging area of research extends work on couple functioning and physical health to gut health, a critical marker of general health and known to diminish with age. As a foray into this area, we conducted a pilot study to (1) determine the feasibility of remote data collection, including a fecal sample, from older adult couples, (2) examine within-couple concordance in gut microbiota composition, and (3) examine associations between relationship functioning and gut microbiota composition. Couples (N = 30) were recruited from the community. The participants’ demographic characteristics were as follows: M (SD) age = 66.6 (4.8), 53% female, 92% White, and 2% Hispanic. Two of the couples were same-sex. All 60 participants completed self-report measures and supplied a fecal sample for microbiome analysis. Microbial DNA was extracted from the samples, and the 16S rRNA gene V4 region was amplified and sequenced. The results indicated that individuals shared more similar gut microbial composition with their partners than with others in the sample, p < 0.0001. In addition, individuals with better relationship quality (greater relationship satisfaction and intimacy and less avoidant communication) had greater microbial diversity, p < 0.05, a sign of healthier gut microbiota. Further research with a larger and more diverse sample is warranted to elucidate mechanisms.
AB - An emerging area of research extends work on couple functioning and physical health to gut health, a critical marker of general health and known to diminish with age. As a foray into this area, we conducted a pilot study to (1) determine the feasibility of remote data collection, including a fecal sample, from older adult couples, (2) examine within-couple concordance in gut microbiota composition, and (3) examine associations between relationship functioning and gut microbiota composition. Couples (N = 30) were recruited from the community. The participants’ demographic characteristics were as follows: M (SD) age = 66.6 (4.8), 53% female, 92% White, and 2% Hispanic. Two of the couples were same-sex. All 60 participants completed self-report measures and supplied a fecal sample for microbiome analysis. Microbial DNA was extracted from the samples, and the 16S rRNA gene V4 region was amplified and sequenced. The results indicated that individuals shared more similar gut microbial composition with their partners than with others in the sample, p < 0.0001. In addition, individuals with better relationship quality (greater relationship satisfaction and intimacy and less avoidant communication) had greater microbial diversity, p < 0.05, a sign of healthier gut microbiota. Further research with a larger and more diverse sample is warranted to elucidate mechanisms.
KW - couples
KW - gut microbial diversity
KW - gut microbiome
KW - intimacy
KW - relationship satisfaction
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph20085435
DO - 10.3390/ijerph20085435
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85153928811
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 20
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 8
M1 - 5435
ER -