Central Data Catalog

Ayurveda is one of the ancient systems of medicine which is widely practised as a personalized scientific approach towards
the general wellness. Ayurvedic prakriti is broadly defined as the phenotypes which are determined on the basis of physical,
psychological and physiological traits irrespective of their social, ethnic, dietary and geographical stature. Prakriti is the
constitution of a person, which comprises vata, pitta, and kapha and is a key determinant of how one individual is different
from the other. Human microbiome is considered the ‘latest discovered’ human organ and microbiome research reiterates
the fundamental principles of Ayurveda for creating a healthy gut environment by maintaining the individual-specific
microbiome. Hence, it is important to understand the association of human microbiome with the Ayurvedic prakriti of an
individual. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of human microbiome from the gut, oral and skin samples of healthy
individuals (n=18) by 16S rRNA gene-based metagenomics using standard QIIME pipeline. In the three different prakriti
samples differential abundance of Bacteroides, Desulfovibrio, Parabacteroides, Slackia, and Succinivibrio was observed in
the gut microbiome. Analysis also revealed prakriti-specific presence of Mogibacterium, Propionibacterium, Pyramidobacter, Rhodococcus in the kapha prakriti individuals Planomicrobium, Hyphomicrobium, Novosphingobium in the pitta
prakriti individuals and Carnobacterium, Robiginitalea, Cetobacterium, Psychrobacter in the vata prakriti individuals.
Similarly, the oral and skin microbiome also revealed presence of prakriti-specific differential abundance of diverse
bacterial genera. Prakriti-specific presence of bacterial taxa was recorded and only 42% microbiome in the oral samples and
52% microbiome in the skin samples were shared. Bacteria known for preventing gut inflammation by digesting the
resistant starch were abundant in the pitta prakriti individuals, who are more prone to develop gut-inflammation-related
disorders. In summary, human gut, oral and skin microbiome showed presence or high abundance of few bacterial taxa
across three prakriti types, suggesting their specific physiological importance.