Correlation between body mass index and faecal microbiota from children

Abstract

Childhood obesity is an increasing problem at the global level and considered as a risk factor for obesity development and the associated co-morbidities in adult life. In this study, the occurrence of Bacteroides fragilis group, Clostridium spp., Bifidobacterium spp. and Escherichia coli in 84 faecal samples from 30 obese, 24 overweight and 30 lean children was verified by culture technique and quantitative determination by quantitative PCR. In addition, Lactobacillus spp. and Methanobrevibacter smithii were also analysed. A correlation between the body mass index (BMI) and these bacteria was sought. Bacteroides vulgatus, Clostridium perfringens and Bifidobacterium adolescentis were most prevalent in all samples evaluated by culture-method. The B. fragilis group were found at high concentrations in obese and overweight children when compared with the lean ones (p 0.015). The obese and overweight children harboured higher numbers of Lactobacillus spp. than lean children (p 0.022). The faecal concentrations of the B. fragilis group (r = 0.24; p 0.026) and Lactobacillus spp. (r = 0.44; p 0.002) were positively correlated with BMI. Bifidobacterium spp. were found in higher numbers in the lean group than the overweight and obese ones (p 0.042). Furthermore, a negative correlation between BMI and Bifidobacterium spp. copy number (r = -0.22; p 0.039) was observed. Our findings show some difference in the intestinal microbial ecosystem of obese children compared with the lean ones and a significant association between number of Lactobacillus spp. and B. fragilis group and BMI.

The Role of Supplemental Complex Dietary Carbohydrates and Gut Microbiota in Promoting Cardiometabolic and Immunological Health in Obesity: Lessons from Healthy Non-Obese Individuals

“…Armougom et al (96) observed significantly higher Lactobacillus species concentrations in adult obese subjects compared to lean ones. The same was recently reported for obese children (127). With qPCR as technique used in these studies, as well as in two out of three studies reporting an inverse relation between Lactobacillus and obesity, it is unlikely that the contradicting results are caused by differences in microbiota assessment.…”

Association between body mass index and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in an adult Ukrainian population

“…The analysis of proximal gut microbiota may be more appropriate for investigation of the effects of gut bacteria on body weight and metabolic changes [21, 25]. These issues should be addressed in future research.…”

“…Some investigations have failed to find significant differences in the F/B ratio between lean and obese humans at both baseline level and after the weight loss [19–24]. In some studies, the fecal concentrations of Bacteroides were positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) [25], and predominance of Bacteroidetes in overweight and obese individuals was demonstrated [26]. Most likely, these differences can be due to different environmental influences, including diet, physical activity, as well as socio-economic impacts [27].…”

Correlation between Body Mass Index and Gut Microbiota in Adults

“…Many studies in both human subjects and experimental animals showed a significant association between the increase of some bacterial groups and obesity [ (Bäckhed et al, 2004); (Ley et al, 2005); (Ley et al, 2006); (Turnbaugh et al, 2009) and (Cani et al, 2008)]. Some studies found that Lactobacillus genus was the most predominant type of microbiota in stool of overweight and obese persons (Armougom et al, 2006); (Ignacio et al, 2016), while other studies linked overweight and obesity to Enterobacteriaceae, specifically E. coli (Santacruz et al, 2010 andKarlsson et al, 2011) and S. aureus (Santacruz et al, 2010). Also, elevated proportion of Firmicutes (Lactobacilli) and reduced population of Bacteroidetes (Bacteroides) has been associated with obesity (Angelakis et al, 2012).…”