Menopause Is Associated with an Altered Gut Microbiome and Estrobolome, with Implications for Adverse Cardiometabolic Risk in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos
Brandilyn A. Peters, Juan Lin, Qibin Qi, Mykhaylo Usyk, Carmen R. Isasi, Yasmin Mossavar‐Rahmani, Carol A. Derby, Nanette Santoro, Krista M. Perreira, Martha L. Daviglus, Michelle A. Kominiarek, Jianwen Cai, Rob Knight, Robert D. Burk, Robert C. Kaplan
Abstract
The menopausal transition, marked by declining ovarian hormones, is recognized as a pivotal period of cardiometabolic risk. Gut microbiota metabolically interact with sex hormones, but large population studies associating menopause with the gut microbiome are lacking. Our results from a large study of Hispanic/Latino women and men suggest that the postmenopausal gut microbiome in women is slightly more similar to the gut microbiome in men and that menopause depletes specific gut pathogens and decreases the hormone-related metabolic potential of the gut microbiome. At the same time, gut microbes may participate in sex hormone reactivation and retention in postmenopausal women. Menopause-related gut microbiome changes were associated with adverse cardiometabolic risk in postmenopausal women, indicating that the gut microbiome contributes to changes in cardiometabolic health during menopause.