Feasibility of collection and analysis of microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized trial of community gardening

Gascon Merlos, Mireia, 1984-; Harrall, Kylie K.; Beavers, Alyssa W.; Glueck, Deborah H.; Stanislawski, Maggie A.; Alaimo, Katherine; Villalobos, Angel; Hebert, James R.; Dexter, Kelsey; Li, Kaigan; Litt, Jill

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/fmb-2019-0195

Feasibility of collection and analysis of microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized trial of community gardening

Citation

Gascon M, Harall KK, Beavers AW, Glueck DH, Stanislawski MA, Alaimo K et al. Feasibility of collection and analysis of microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized trial of community gardening. Future Microbiol. 2020 May;5(8):633-648. DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2019-0195

Abstract

Aim: We explored the feasibility of collecting and analyzing human microbiome data in a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of community gardening. Methods & materials: Participants were randomly assigned to gardening (N = 8) or control (N = 8). Participants provided stool, mouth, hand and forehead microbiome samples at six timepoints. Analyses combined mixed models with Qiita output. Results: Participant satisfaction was high, with 75% of participants completing evaluations. While no microbial effects were statistically significant due to small sample size, the analysis pipeline utility was tested. Conclusion: Longitudinal collection and analysis of microbiome data in a community gardening randomized controlled trial is feasible. The analysis pipeline will be useful in larger studies for assessment of the pathway between microbiota, gardening and health outcomes.