Gut Microbiome and Obesity: A Plausible Explanation for Obesity

Abstract

Obesity is a multifactorial disorder that results in excessive accumulation of adipose tissue. Although obesity is caused by alterations in the energy consumption/expenditure balance, the factors promoting this disequilibrium are incompletely understood. The rapid development of new technologies and analysis strategies to decode the gut microbiota composition and metabolic pathways has opened a door into the complexity of the guest-host interactions between the gut microbiota and its human host in health and in disease. Pivotal studies have demonstrated that manipulation of the gut microbiota and its metabolic pathways can affect host’s adiposity and metabolism. These observations have paved the way for further assessment of the mechanisms underlying these changes. In this review we summarize the current evidence for possible mechanisms underlying gut microbiota induced obesity. The review addresses some well-known effects of the gut microbiota on energy harvesting and changes in metabolic machinery, on metabolic and immune interactions and on possible changes in brain function and behavior. Although there is limited understanding on the symbiotic relationship between us and our gut microbiome, and how disturbances of this relationship affects our health, there is compelling evidence for an important role of the gut microbiota in the development and perpetuation of obesity.

A Pilot Microbiota Study in Parkinson’s Disease Patients versus Control Subjects, and Effects of FTY720 and FTY720-Mitoxy Therapies in Parkinsonian and Multiple System Atrophy Mouse Models

“…In addition to antibiotics, certain non-antibiotic drugs and/or common medications can alter gut microbial growth or elicit changes that may induce antibiotic resistance [8]. Gut microbial imbalances are also common in chronic diseases like diabetes [9,10], inflammatory bowel disease [11], and obesity [12], as well as in neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease (PD) [13][14][15] and multiple system atrophy (MSA) [16,17]. Gut microbiome changes in PD and MSA often parallel associated gastrointestinal (GI) hyperpermeability, constipation, and dysmotility.…”

SYN-004 (ribaxamase), an oral beta-lactamase, mitigates antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis in a porcine gut microbiome model

“…), metabolic syndrome, and obesity (Tilg and Kaser ; Sanmiguel et al . ; Economopoulos et al . ; Yang and Kweon ), protection of the gut microbiome from unintended effects of antibiotics becomes increasingly urgent.…”

“…Antibiotic exposure inherently causes dysbiosis, a perturbation of the number and composition of the microbiota that affects normal microbial balance. Antibiotic use can result in antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (McFarland physiological states, including allergies (Trompette et al 2014), asthma (Arrieta et al 2015), autism (Hsiao et al 2013;Buffington et al 2016), cancer (Garrett 2015), diabetes (Livanos et al 2016;Pedersen et al 2016), recovery from neurological injury (Kigerl et al 2016), metabolic syndrome, and obesity (Tilg and Kaser 2011;Sanmiguel et al 2015;Economopoulos et al 2016;Yang and Kweon 2016), protection of the gut microbiome from unintended effects of antibiotics becomes increasingly urgent.…”

Case for a role of the microbiome in gynecologic cancers: Clinician's perspective

“…However, it is thought to be secondary to increased harvesting of fatty acids due to obesogenic microbiota and digestion of certain polysaccharides that would be indigestible otherwise, 57 increased absorption of carbohydrates and fat by increasing the glucose transporters and fatty acid translocase on gut mucosa, 60 increased carbohydrate fermentation efficiency 56,61 and increased inflammation and gut permeability. 62 Human clinical trials investigating the association between obesity and the microbiome are less robust and less consistent than animal studies. 63 A Dutch study that included monozygotic twins showed similar microbiome profiles between the pairs, but twins who were discordant on body mass index showed an inverse correlation between some clusters of Clostridium diversity and body mass index.…”