A recent study on rhesus macaques on the Cayo Santiago island in Puerto Rico observed that monkeys who were more socially active had more number of healthier gut microbes whereas those with lesser social interactions had more harmful bacteria like Streptococcus.
Source: Photo by Jacob Buchhave on Unsplash
This study conducted by scientists and professors at the University of Oxford and the University of Colorado involved assessing gut microbiota in this population of macaques by analysing social network and sequencing data obtained from them. The data also took into consideration, the factors that could influence the gut microbe composition such as age groups, season, sex and rank of the macaques within the group which could influence the microbiome.
Streptococcus has often been regarded as opportunistic pathogens which can be potentially pathogenic and are responsible for producing pro-inflammatory cytokines. A misregulated or unnecessary surge in pro-inflammatory cytokines can lead to severe inflammation in the body. A higher number of Streptococcus in the gut microbiome is often observed in individuals with greater stress levels. On the contrary, the microbe Faecalibacterium found abundantly in the gut of more sociable monkeys has anti-inflammatory properties and is associated with good health and gut barrier enhancement,
This study provides important insights into how gut microbe can influence social behaviour in hosts and it will be interesting to study the Macaca genus which is closely related to humans and draw appropriate relationships from the observations,
The full paper, ‘Sociability in a non-captive macaque population is associated with beneficial gut bacteria’ is an interesting read.
DID YOU KNOW?
It was not possible to study the gut microbiome extensively till the entry of next-generation sequencing in 2005. This is because the majority of gut microbiota are anaerobic (grow in absence of oxygen) and therefore cannot be routinely and efficiently grown in cultures.
Species of microbes like bifidobacterium and firmicutes can transfer genes with seaweed-eating bacteria. This helps in better digestion of plant fibre-containing food such as nori and wakame.
Phago'citations'
[1] Johnson KV-A, Watson KK, Dunbar RIM, Burnet PWJ. Sociability in a non-captive macaque population is associated with beneficial gut bacteria. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022;13.
[3] Ferranti EP, Dunbar SB, Dunlop AL, Corwin EJ. 20 things you didn't know about the human gut microbiome. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2014 Nov-Dec;29(6):479-81.
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