The gut microbiota is a transmissible determinant of skeletal maturation

Abstract

Genetic factors account for the majority of the variance of human bone mass, but the contribution of non-genetic factors remains largely unknown. By utilizing maternal/offspring transmission, cohabitation, or fecal material transplantation (FMT) studies, we investigated the influence of the gut microbiome on skeletal maturation. We show that the gut microbiome is a communicable regulator of bone structure and turnover in mice. In addition, we found that the acquisition of a specific bacterial strain, segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), a gut microbe that induces intestinal Th17 cell expansion, was sufficient to negatively impact skeletal maturation. These findings have significant translational implications, as the identification of methods or timing of microbiome transfer may lead to the development of bacteriotherapeutic interventions to optimize skeletal maturation in humans. Moreover, the transfer of SFB-like microbes capable of triggering the expansion of human Th17 cells during therapeutic FMT procedures could lead to significant bone loss in fecal material recipients.