Human gut microbes associated with obesity

Ruth E. Ley, Peter J. Turnbaugh, Samuel Klein and Jeffrey I. Gordon ()
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Ruth E. Ley: Washington University School of Medicine
Peter J. Turnbaugh: Washington University School of Medicine
Samuel Klein: Washington University School of Medicine
Jeffrey I. Gordon: Washington University School of Medicine

Nature, 2006, vol. 444, issue 7122, 1022-1023

Abstract: Inside story Our gut microbes do us a service by performing metabolic chores that we have not evolved to do for ourselves. In a sense their genes are part of the 'metagenome' that is Homo sapiens. That is illustrated by two related papers in this issue that present evidence for a microbial component to obesity. A study of the abundance of the two dominant groups of bacteria in the gut of obese individuals shows that increased numbers of Bacteroidetes bacteria correlate with weight loss. And a study of genetically obese mice reveals that their gut microbial community has a greater capacity for harvesting energy than that of lean littermates: the trait is transmissible by transplanting the community into germ-free mice. This work suggests that the gut microbiome associated with obesity might be a biomarker and possibly a therapeutic target.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/4441022a

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