# Epidemiology of the gut microbiome, prediabetes and diabetes in Latinos

> **NIH NIH R01** · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $752,099

## Abstract

The Hispanic/Latino population is the fasting growing segment of the US population. Diabetes
disproportionately affects this group. National US 2007-09 data found that >20 yr old Hispanics (11.8%)
have a 66% higher rate of diabetes compared to non-Hispanic whites (7.1%). In the population-based
Hispanic Community Health Study (HCHS)/Study of Latinos (SOL), diabetes had a baseline prevalence of
approximately 17%. Very recent data implicates the gut microbiome (GMB) as a key determinant of
diabetes. Since different ancestral populations harbor different diabetes-associated sets of GMBs, it is
necessary to study Hispanic/Latino populations with high rates of diabetes to determine the relationship
between the GMB and diabetes. Understanding the relationship of the GMB to diabetes is anticipated to
lead to a new era of prevention and treatment options, especially since therapeutic interventions are
available that target the GMB. Nevertheless, there are major gaps in understanding the epidemiology of the
GMB in the population and its role in the development of diabetes. The proposed study will leverage the
HCHS/SOL study that will re-examine the participants in 2014-2017. This study has a major focus on
diabetes including a fasting 2h glucose tolerance test (GTT), a standardized and universally accepted
metric of glucose metabolism, in addition to specific other laboratory and clinical measurements. This
proposed ancillary study will test the hypothesis that specific patterns of the gut microbiome will be
significantly associated with pre-diabetes and diabetes, building upon recent advances in understanding
the importance of the GMB in human health and metabolic diseases. This project will collect and determine
the genetic composition of the fecal microbiome from 2,000 cohort members. The proposed study has
developed a unique multidisciplinary team to address the following specific aims: (1) to investigate
epidemiological factors affecting the gut microbiome in the sample of Hispanic/Latino individuals of diverse
background who have normal indices of carbohydrate metabolism. We will test the association of
geographic/ancestral background (e.g., Mexican, Puerto Rican), US birth status, gender, age, BMI, shared
household and relatedness, and other variables with the GBM composition; (2) to utilize a cross-sectional
design to evaluate the association of the gut microbiome (GMB) with the presence of disorders of
carbohydrate metabolism including diabetes and prediabetes; and (3) to examine the longitudinal
association of the GMB with risk of developing diabetes. We will use the active follow-up in the entire
cohort to identify individuals who develop diabetes and estimate the relative risk of disease associated with
different microbiomes. We hypothesize that the microbiomes found to be cross-sectionally associated with
diabetes in Aim 2 will be predictive of the development of diabetes among initially pre-diabetic and
normoglycemic individuals.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9877965
- **Project number:** 5R01MD011389-05
- **Recipient organization:** ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert D Burk
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $752,099
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-08 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9877965

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9877965, Epidemiology of the gut microbiome, prediabetes and diabetes in Latinos (5R01MD011389-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9877965. Licensed CC0.

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