The gut microbiome supplies the human host with metabolic capabilities beyond those encoded by its own genome (Khan et al., 2014). Because host metabolism is effectively regulated by the amalgamation of host and microbial genes (Khan et al., 2014), we should expect the gut microbiota to play a fundamental role in the health of its host. A compendium of research evidence demonstrates a compelling link between obesity and gut microbial composition. The connection between obesity and the gut microbiota is illustrated in the effects of diet on microbial diversity, the association of host genotype with microbial plasticity, the correlation of microbial diversity and metabolic disease, and the modulation of host metabolism by gut …show more content…
The main focus was to study the impact of the two different diets, control ad-libitum (CON-AL) and diet-induced obese weight reduced (DIO-WR) on microbial diversity because the two groups have the same body weight and composition, which allowed a direct comparison (Ravussin et al., 2012). There were many experiments done to assess the microbial communities in each of these different diets. Based on the results, the operational taxonomic unit differences gave the greatest indication of the diversity of phyla in the mice. Specifically, it was found that the Lachnospiraceae family, the Firmicutes phylum and the genera Bacteroides and Mucispirillum were enriched in the DIO-WR group, while Allobaculum was largely present in the CON-AL mice (Ravussin et al., 2012). Generally, it was found that mice eating a high fat diet or those that were diet-induced obese had greater abundances of many different bacterial phyla. The measurements of fat free mass showed significant differences between the subgroups’ diets. Another one of the major effects of the composition of gut microbiota is the mucin production of the intestine, which is in turn regulated by leptin concentrations (Ravussin et al., 2012) . The study found that lower leptin concentrations in DIO-WR mice have a larger impact than the decrease in CON-WR mice (Ravussin et al., 2012). The several experiments performed by Ravussin et al. demonstrate a strong correlation
Gut microbiota is a complex community of micro-organism species that live within the digestive tract. It is the largest reservoir of micro-organisms mutual to both humans and animals. The Gut microbiome consist of as many as 1,000 types of bacteria. The microbiome also consists of as many as 10 times the amount of cells and roughly as many as 150 times as many genes as the human genome contains. The microbiome has a symbiotic relationship with its human host and it co-evolves. The gut microbiome is a finely tuned eco-system, but its development depends on a number of factors, such as:
In the article, "The Ultimate Social Network," Jennifer Ackerman presented data to challenge the first thoughts that people are independent, depending just on the human body to control interior capacities. She stated that the adjustments in the human microbiome are contributing to higher rates of obesity and autoimmune system disorders, prompting it to address regardless of whether we are in charge of our own body.
The gut microbiota is extremely diverse – consisting of over 1,000 identified unique species of bacteria. It is indeed difficult to wrap one’s head around it – despite bacteria being microscopically small, and having an undetectable mass, the bacteria of the gut in a human can weigh over 2 pounds! This incredibly diverse mass of bacteria is also mostly unique on an individual basis – over 70% of the bacteria per gut are unique to each person [1]. Thus, the gut microbiota of each individual can effectively function as a unique source of identity.
There is an ever-growing awareness of the possible potential for bacterial flora in the gut, also known as microbiota, to influence the gut-brain communication in health and disease.
* Does obesity affect the community structure? If so, at what taxonomic level does this occur, and does the gut community
Dill-Mcfarland, K. A., Weimer, P. J., Pauli, J. N., Peery, M. Z., & Suen, G. (2015). Diet specialization selects for an unusual and simplified gut microbiota in two- and three-toed sloths. Environmental Microbiology,18(5), 1391-1402. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13022
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a drug as, “a substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body” (“Drug,” 2016). Most would consider this definition too broad since simply ingesting food causes physiological changes in the body. However, most do not consider the multifarious ways in which the food that we eat affects our epigenetic gene expression, or the bi-directional signaling between our gut and our brains. The food that we eat is metabolized in the gut by micro-organisms which collectively form our microbiota. The 100 trillion prokaryotic cells that make up our microbiota, constitute 90% of the cells in our bodies, and are derived from more than 40,000 bacterial strains (Forsythe & Kunze, 2012). Increasingly, research is showing the importance of host microbiota composition and the bidirectional signaling pathways between the brain and the gut: some of which are epigenetic. These studies elucidate the profound impacts that signaling pathways, such as short-chain fatty acid mediated effects, nucleomodulins, and other bacterial metabolites, can have on health, behavior and cognition (Sommer & Backhed, 2013). It is now clear that diet-mediated epigenetic effects are important mechanisms in the etiology of numerous diseases (Choi & Friso, 2010). Furthermore, artificial drugs that can act on these epigenetic pathways could
The relationship between the human gut microbiome to health and disease is strong. Human physiology, metabolism, nutrition, and immune function are all affected by the composition of the gut. If the composition of the gut microbiome is altered in a way that any of these functions are negatively affected, this can lead to disease. The developments of the microbiome, its complexity, and its functionality in health and disease have been extensively studied. In addition, the way in which it is altered has many implications in the cause of diseases, such as bowel disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
Unique microbiota could suggest a human’s current health or if there is any forthcoming chronic disease (Ley, 2006). Families with shared healthy microbes may be able to help relatives who suffer from gastrointestinal disease; but the extant to which the microbiome is shared across generations is not readily known and more research is needed. The core trends for current research revolve around control of obesity, treatment of gastrointestinal diseases such as Crohn’s, and hormonal manipulation in cases of depression. It is imperative to learn to eat for optimal health, to evolve along with the commensals (Turner et al., 2013) as human diets influence diversity of microbes present (Ley et al., 2008). This is a relatively new field with exciting prospects of positive outcomes for some of society’s more chronic
In this study, they investigated the social spread of obesity by performing a quantitative analysis on 12,067 people that were a part of the Framingham Heart Study. Longitudinal statistical models were used to assess the effect of another person’s weight gain on an individual. They found that a person was 57% more likely to gain weight if they had a friend who became obese, 40% more likely if their sibling became obese, and 37% more likely if their spouse became obese. Hence, obesity seems to be influenced by social factors. This study seems like a reliable source as it was published by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007.
In this study, a high fiber diet and acetate supplementation, change the gut microbiota to prevent development of hypertension and heart failure in hypertensive mice. The analysis of transcriptomes in these animals showed fiber and acetate diet have a protective effect by downregulating the genes in cardiac hypertrophy, cardiorenal fibrosis, and inflammation. Also, there was an observed upregulation of genes of the circadian rhythm, and downregulation of renin-angiotensin system that contributes to hypertension. The molecular changes resulted in improved cardiovascular health and function. [4] figure
The study intended to look at the gut microbiome that is naturally present within the gut. The research team of the Louisiana State University designed an experiment with lab rats to predict how the manipulation of the gut microbiome with a high fat diet would affect their brain
The community of micro-organisms within a host individuals gastrointestinal tract, or microbiota, is primarily made up of four bacterial phyla in most mammals – Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria (Costello et al., 2012). Similarly, the microbiome of an organism is the combined genetic material present in all of the various micro-organisms residing in a host. Since 2011, numerous studies have indicated that an altered microbiota in germ free mice (GF) lead to behavioral changes, notably advancing the idea of a microbiota-gut-brain axis (Stilling et al., 2014). It is now clear that certain specific pathologies, neurodevelopment disorders and depression are linked to an altered microbiome (Grenham et al.,
In a similar fashion, the study from Yadav et al28 underscored the importance of butyrate via the transfer of the probiotic VSL#3 to mice with MetS. VSL#3 is a probiotic that is able to produce high amounts of butyrate. This transfer markedly reversed various symptoms of MetS. A favorable constitution of the intestinal microbiota is thus believed to be also a primary condition for maintaining healthy metabolism since it facilitates butyrate
Therefore, the liver-gut interaction is central to understand the pathophysiology of liver diseases, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatic encephalopathy. Current knowledge on the association between gut microbial composition and NASH is incomplete. Liver malfunction leads to altered genetic composition of gut microbial, and in the meantime specific bacterial species are present during liver pathogenesis, and the abundance of some bacteria is correlates with grade of liver disease, implying the term “gut-liver axis”.