Cardiometabolic Disease Risk in Gorillas Is Associated with Altered Gut Microbial Metabolism

Authors

• Samuel Davison, University of Minnesota and Czech Academy of Sciences
• Anna Mascellani Bergo, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
• Zoe Ward, University of Minnesota-Saint Paul
• April Sackett, University of Minnesota-Saint Paul
• Anna Strykova, Czech Academy of Sciences
• José Diógenes Jaimes, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
• Dominic Travis, The Marine Mammal Center and University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Jonathan B. Clayton, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Hayley W. Murphy, Detroit Zoological Society, USA
• Marietta D. Danforth, Detroit Zoological Society, USA
• B. Katherine Smith, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Ran Blekham, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Terence Fuh, WWF Central African Republic
• Frédéric Stéphane Niatou Singa, WWF Central African Republic
• Jaroslav Havlik, Czech University of Life Sciences PragueFollow
• Klara Petrzelkova, Czech Academy of Sciences and Liberec Zoo, Czech RepublicFollow
• Andres Gomez, University of Minnesota and University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Clayton https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3709-3362

Danforth https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9021-0719

Blekhman https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3218-613X

Gomez https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1174-0368

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2025

Citation

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes (2025) 11: 33

doi: 10.1038/s41522-025-00664-3

Comments

Open access

License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Abstract

Cardiometabolic disease is the leading cause of death in zoo apes; yet its etiology remains unknown. Here, we investigated compositional and functional microbial markers in fecal samples from 57 gorillas across U.S. zoos, 20 of which are diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, in contrast with 17 individuals from European zoos and 19 wild gorillas from Central Africa. Results show that zoo-housed gorillas in the U.S. exhibit the most diverse gut microbiomes and markers of increased protein and carbohydrate fermentation, at the expense of microbial metabolic traits associated with plant cell-wall degradation. Machine learning models identified unique microbial traits in U.S. gorillas with cardiometabolic distress; including reduced metabolism of sulfur-containing amino acids and hexoses, increased abundance of potential enteric pathogens, and low fecal butyrate and propionate production. These findings show that cardiometabolic disease in gorillas is potentially associated with altered gut microbial function, influenced by zoo-specific diets and environments.