Genomic Evidence for Bacterial Determinants Influencing Obesity Development

Abstract

Obesity is a major global public health problem requiring multifaceted interventional approaches including dietary interventions with probiotic bacteria. High-throughput genome sequencing of microbial communities in the mammalian gastrointestinal system continues to present diverse protein function information to understand the bacterial determinants that influence obesity development. The goal of the research reported in this article was to identify biological processes in probiotic bacteria that could influence the mechanisms for the extraction of energy from diet in the human gastrointestinal system. Our research strategy of combining bioinformatics and visual analytics methods was based on the identification of operon gene arrangements in genomes of Lactobacillus species and Akkermansia muciniphila that include at least a gene for a universal stress protein. The two major findings from this research study are related to Lactobacillus plantarum and Akkermansia muciniphila bacteria species which are associated with weight-loss. The first finding is that Lactobacillus plantarum strains have a two-gene operon that encodes a universal stress protein for stress response and the membrane translocator protein (TSPO), known to function in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation in humans. The second finding is the presence of a three-gene operon in Akkermansia muciniphila that includes a gene whose human mitochondrial homolog is associated with waist-hip ratio and fat distribution. From a public health perspective, elucidation of the bacterial determinants influencing obesity will help in educating the public on optimal probiotic use for anti-obesity effects.

Interplay between food and gut microbiota in health and disease

“…Intake of a whey protein isolate has also been reported to specifically increase the abundance of Lactobacillaceae/Lactobacillus (Figure 1) and decrease the abundance of Clostridiaceae/Clostridium (McAllan et al, 2015), and in comparison to casein, whey protein intake was reported to increase the levels of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in a rat model of colitis (Sprong, Schonewille, & van der Meer, 2010). Several species of Lactobacilli have been reported to reduce adiposity in mice and be associated with weight-loss in humans (Park et al, 2013;Yoo et al, 2013;Isokpehi, Simmons, Johnson, & Payton, 2017) suggesting that protein-associated changes in the gut microbiota might be causally linked with improved metabolic function. However, it remains to be established whether such changes in the composition of the gut microbiota are causally related to the anti-obesogenic actions of specific proteins such as milk and plant proteins.…”

Links between Dietary Protein Sources, the Gut Microbiota, and Obesity

“…Increased proportions of Lactobacillus have been observed in high fat diet fed mice (Clarke et al, 2013 ). However, certain species of Lactobacillus , such as Lactobacillus plantarum (Isokpehi et al, 2017 ) were recently associated with weight-loss in humans. Further, supplementation with Lactobacillus curvatus HY7601 and L. plantarum KY1032 in diet-induced obese mice was associated with gut microbial changes and reduction in obesity (Park et al, 2013 ).…”

Impact of Protein Intake in Older Adults with Sarcopenia and Obesity: A Gut Microbiota Perspective

“…In addition, Bifidobacteria-fermented whey and cheese protein have expressed decreased populations of Bacteroides fragilis and Clostridium perfingens , increased acetate production, and greater Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium diversity [ 170 , 171 , 172 ]. Moreover, certain Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species have been associated with increased muscle strength, weight loss, and reduced obesogenic environments in humans and rodents [ 173 , 174 , 175 , 176 ]. This may be attributed to whey protein’s abundance in Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria , as reported in rodent studies [ 177 , 178 , 179 ].…”