Mediterranean Diet, Physical Activity and Gut Microbiome Composition: A Cross-Sectional Study among Healthy Young Italian Adults

Background. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the microbial composition of the gut and its possible association with the Mediterranean diet (MD) after adjusting for demographic and anthropometric characteristics in a sample of healthy young Italian adults. Methods. Gut microbiota, demographic information, and data on adherence to MD and physical activity (PA) habits were collected in a sample of 140 university students (48.6% males, mean age 22.5 +/- 2.9) with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 22.4 +/- 2.8 kg/m(2)(15.2-33.8) and a mean PA level of 3006.2 +/- 2973.6 metabolic equivalent (MET)-minutes/week (148-21,090). Results. A high prevalence ofFirmicutesandBacteroideteswas found in all the fecal samples. Significant dissimilarities in the microbiota composition were found on the basis of MD adherence and PA levels (p= 0.001). At the genus level,StreptococcusandDoreawere highly abundant in overweight/obese individuals,RuminococcusandOscillospirain participants with lower adherence to MD, andLachnobacteriumin subjects with low levels of PA (p= 0.001). A significantly higher abundance ofParaprevotellawas shown by individuals with lower BMI, lower MD adherence, and lower PA levels (p= 0.001). Conclusions. This study contributes to the characterization of the gut microbiome of healthy humans. The findings suggest the role of diet and PA in determining gut microbiota variability.