Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults

Enriching human microbiota has been proposed as a mechanism by which greenspace exposure improves human health. The existing evidence is scarce with few studies able to evaluate causality. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 30 healthy undergraduate students to explore the intervention eff...

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Autores: Wang, Lu, Li, Jun-Yi, Zhu, Xiao-Qi, Jiang, Jian-Cheng, Li, Chuang, Zheng, Zi-Han, Wang, Zhi, Zhao, Tianyu, Markevych, Iana, Heinrich, Joachim, Dadvand, Payam, Browing, Matthew H. E. M., Chen, Chen, Huang, Ji-Lin, Dong, Guang-Hui, Yang, Bo-Yi
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/70711
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70711
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118183
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Greenspace
Gut microbiota
Human microbiota
Natural environment
Oral microbiota
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spelling Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adultsWang, LuLi, Jun-YiZhu, Xiao-QiJiang, Jian-ChengLi, ChuangZheng, Zi-HanWang, ZhiZhao, TianyuMarkevych, IanaHeinrich, JoachimDadvand, PayamBrowing, Matthew H. E. M.Chen, ChenHuang, Ji-LinDong, Guang-HuiYang, Bo-YiGreenspaceGut microbiotaHuman microbiotaNatural environmentOral microbiotaEnriching human microbiota has been proposed as a mechanism by which greenspace exposure improves human health. The existing evidence is scarce with few studies able to evaluate causality. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 30 healthy undergraduate students to explore the intervention effects of greenspace on human gut and oral microbiota alpha-diversity, composition, differential genera and functional pathways. The study participants were divided into three groups, including outdoor greenspace (GS) group, outdoor non-greenspace (NGS) group, and indoor group, who visited a park, an open space without vegetation, and a classroom, respectively, for two hours per day over seven days. Differences in microbial alpha-diversity and composition across various groups were tested using Wilcoxon test and permutational multivariate analysis of variance, respectively. Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis was performed to test differences in genera and functional pathways. Greenspace intervention significantly increased gut microbiota alpha-diversity, especially the observed Amplicon Sequence variant indexes and the Faith indexes (both p < 0.05). In addition, the intervention substantially changed the composition of gut microbiota, of which the relative abundances of potentially beneficial bacteria increased. Further, the greenspace intervention affected several functional pathways of gut microbiota, including "substance dependence", "specific types of cancer", and "viral infectious diseases". However, we did not find any significant effect of greenspace intervention on oral microbiota. Our results suggest that greenspace intervention diversifies the gut microbiota and alters its composition. These findings could help to reinforce the potential of increasing people's access to greenspace as a public health intervention.Elsevier202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/70711http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118183http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70711reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésEcotoxicol Environ Saf. 2025 May;296:118183© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:10230/707112026-05-29T05:05:01Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
title Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
spellingShingle Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
Wang, Lu
Greenspace
Gut microbiota
Human microbiota
Natural environment
Oral microbiota
title_short Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
title_full Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
title_fullStr Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
title_full_unstemmed Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
title_sort Intervention effects of greenspace exposure on human microbiota: A randomized controlled trial in Chinese young adults
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Wang, Lu
Li, Jun-Yi
Zhu, Xiao-Qi
Jiang, Jian-Cheng
Li, Chuang
Zheng, Zi-Han
Wang, Zhi
Zhao, Tianyu
Markevych, Iana
Heinrich, Joachim
Dadvand, Payam
Browing, Matthew H. E. M.
Chen, Chen
Huang, Ji-Lin
Dong, Guang-Hui
Yang, Bo-Yi
author Wang, Lu
author_facet Wang, Lu
Li, Jun-Yi
Zhu, Xiao-Qi
Jiang, Jian-Cheng
Li, Chuang
Zheng, Zi-Han
Wang, Zhi
Zhao, Tianyu
Markevych, Iana
Heinrich, Joachim
Dadvand, Payam
Browing, Matthew H. E. M.
Chen, Chen
Huang, Ji-Lin
Dong, Guang-Hui
Yang, Bo-Yi
author_role author
author2 Li, Jun-Yi
Zhu, Xiao-Qi
Jiang, Jian-Cheng
Li, Chuang
Zheng, Zi-Han
Wang, Zhi
Zhao, Tianyu
Markevych, Iana
Heinrich, Joachim
Dadvand, Payam
Browing, Matthew H. E. M.
Chen, Chen
Huang, Ji-Lin
Dong, Guang-Hui
Yang, Bo-Yi
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Greenspace
Gut microbiota
Human microbiota
Natural environment
Oral microbiota
topic Greenspace
Gut microbiota
Human microbiota
Natural environment
Oral microbiota
description Enriching human microbiota has been proposed as a mechanism by which greenspace exposure improves human health. The existing evidence is scarce with few studies able to evaluate causality. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 30 healthy undergraduate students to explore the intervention effects of greenspace on human gut and oral microbiota alpha-diversity, composition, differential genera and functional pathways. The study participants were divided into three groups, including outdoor greenspace (GS) group, outdoor non-greenspace (NGS) group, and indoor group, who visited a park, an open space without vegetation, and a classroom, respectively, for two hours per day over seven days. Differences in microbial alpha-diversity and composition across various groups were tested using Wilcoxon test and permutational multivariate analysis of variance, respectively. Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis was performed to test differences in genera and functional pathways. Greenspace intervention significantly increased gut microbiota alpha-diversity, especially the observed Amplicon Sequence variant indexes and the Faith indexes (both p < 0.05). In addition, the intervention substantially changed the composition of gut microbiota, of which the relative abundances of potentially beneficial bacteria increased. Further, the greenspace intervention affected several functional pathways of gut microbiota, including "substance dependence", "specific types of cancer", and "viral infectious diseases". However, we did not find any significant effect of greenspace intervention on oral microbiota. Our results suggest that greenspace intervention diversifies the gut microbiota and alters its composition. These findings could help to reinforce the potential of increasing people's access to greenspace as a public health intervention.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70711
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118183
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70711
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70711
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118183
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2025 May;296:118183
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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