2025 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 1-8
The Iwaki Health Promotion Project, in the Iwaki region of Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, has conducted comprehensive health checkups for over two decades, encompassing 3000 examination items among a cohort of approximately 1,000 participants. In this project, research on the gut microbiota has unveiled significant findings. Investigations into the impact of Helicobacter pylori infection have revealed that gastric mucosal atrophy resulting from H. pylori infection leads to a reduction in gastric acid secretion, exerting a substantial influence on the gut microbiota. Additionally, by exploring the association between the pathophysiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the gut microbiota, it was found that NAFLD decreases the abundance of Faecalibacterium, a butyrate-producing bacterium, which was attributed to the disruption of the Gut-Liver-axis. Furthermore, a heightened affinity between equol producers and Slackia isoflavoniconvertens was discovered by examining the relationship between equol and its metabolism within the gut microbiota. Despite remaining uncertainties in the understanding of the gut microbiota, the data derived from the Iwaki Project, involving a cohort of 1,000 cases, is deemed highly valuable.
