Where you live may influence more than your commute or grocery options. New research from King’s College London and the University of Nottingham suggests that social deprivation is associated with measurable differences in the gut microbiome, including bacteria linked to inflammation, metabolism, and mental health.
The study, published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, analyzed gut bacteria from 1,390 women enrolled in the long-running TwinsUK registry. Researchers compared participants’ microbiome profiles with their area-level socioeconomic status using the Townsend Deprivation Index, which measures deprivation based on unemployment, overcrowding, and home and car ownership.
Women living in more socially deprived areas had lower overall gut bacterial diversity. They also had fewer short-chain fatty acid–producing bacteria, including species that generate butyrate, a compound known to support gut lining integrity, regulate inflammation, and influence how the body processes energy.
Two bacterial species, Lawsonibacter and Intestinimonas massiliensis, stood out. These microbes were less common in participants from higher-deprivation areas and were also associated with higher rates of anxiety and diabetes. Both are butyrate producers, suggesting that reduced levels could be part of the biological pathway linking social stressors to health outcomes.
“Although this is still an emerging area of research, we know that the diversity of bacteria in the gut plays an important role on overall health,” said Dr Cristina Menni, senior author of the study and senior lecturer in molecular epidemiology at King’s College London. “Our findings suggests that people who live in more socially deprived areas of the UK may have less diverse gut microbiomes, which could affect other aspects of their health. We hope that this might lead to interventions that support gut health and help improve overall wellbeing.”
The researchers caution that the findings are observational and cannot prove that deprivation directly causes microbiome changes. The study included only women, and diet was not directly measured. Still, the results raise important questions about how chronic stress, food access, and environmental factors may influence gut biology.
Dr Yu Lin, first author of the study, said the microbiome may help explain how social and environmental stress translates into physical and mental health differences.
“The gut microbiome might be one of the ways our environment and social circumstances, such as chronic stress, financial strain, access to healthy food, affect both our mental health and our metabolic health,” she said.
The researchers suggest that strategies supporting butyrate-producing bacteria, such as increasing dietary fiber intake or exploring targeted probiotic approaches, could potentially play a role in reducing some health disparities. However, broader structural factors remain central. Diet is one piece of a much larger system that includes income, stress, housing, and access to nutritious food.
As microbiome research evolves, studies like this highlight an important reality: health differences across communities may not be explained by personal choices alone. Biology often reflects the environments people live in.
This research was funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Leap Dynamic Resilience Programme. The Department of Twin Research at King’s College London, which runs the TwinsUK registry, receives support from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and several other public and charitable research organizations. Some investigators also receive funding from international health and education agencies.