{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T14:03:08Z","timestamp":1762092188749,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,18]],"date-time":"2023-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1694995200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of South Florida"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Firefighters are exposed to occupational hazards and have a higher prevalence of health issues. The gut microbiota plays a crucial role in the immune, endocrine, and neural systems, and disruptions in its composition can impact health outcomes. This pilot study aimed to investigate the potential association between occupational factors, changes in gut microbiota, and the development of adverse health outcomes in firefighters. To test this hypothesis, we recruited 15 firefighters and age\/sex-matched controls to investigate the relationship between occupational environment and gut microbiota. Firefighters exhibit lower intestinal bacterial alpha diversity and a higher presence of pathogenic bacteria than the control. Moreover, unique gut bacterial taxa were observed in firefighters with high post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores, which could contribute to immune dysregulation and higher susceptibility to pathogen colonization. These preliminary findings suggest that occupational factors, including exposure to traumatic stressors and chemicals, may influence firefighters\u2019 health by modulating their gut microbiota. The observed changes in gut microbiota composition and the potential link to occupational hazards highlight the need for further research in larger sample-size studies. Understanding the role of gut microbiota in firefighter health may have implications for preventive measures and interventions to mitigate occupational health risks and improve overall well-being.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life13091928","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,18]],"date-time":"2023-09-18T02:17:30Z","timestamp":1695003450000},"page":"1928","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["A Preliminary Study Exploring the Relationship between Occupational Health Hazards and Gut Microbiota among Firefighters"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9528-0815","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ji Youn","family":"Yoo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"McSkimming","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interdisciplinary Unit in Data Science & Analytics, Buffalo State University, Buffalo, NY 14222, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1837-1235","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kalavathy","family":"Rajan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant and Soil Science, Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79403, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anujit","family":"Sarkar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nicole","family":"Labb\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Renewable Carbon, The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maureen","family":"Groer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Usha","family":"Menon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Nursing, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"483","DOI":"10.1007\/s10608-018-9892-y","article-title":"Posttraumatic stress and suicidality among firefighters: The moderating role of distress tolerance","volume":"42","author":"Bartlett","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cogn. 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