Nutritional Targets for Modulation of the Microbiota in Obesity

Abstract

The gut microbiota is being increasingly appreciated by both clinical and research professionals as the human ancestral genome has undergone modification by the microbes that colonize the human body. The gut is now known to be a key metabolic organ that contains some 15 000 bacterial species that influence health and chronic diseases, the latter including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hepatic steatosis, and hypertension. Based on the potentially beneficial effects of nutrients, this review discusses how obesity disturbs the gut microbiota. Additionally, the main dietary nutrients known to modulate the intestine microbiome were highlighted. Drug Dev Res 74 : 393-402, 2013.

Green Coffee Extract Improves Cardiometabolic Parameters and Modulates Gut Microbiota in High-Fat-Diet-Fed ApoE-/- Mice

“…Of note, the observed enrichment in ABC transporters and pathways associated to lipid metabolism in mice treated with the vehicle is consistent with human findings showing significant over-representation of these pathways in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis, obesity, and type-2 diabetes [32]. Interestingly, GCE contributed further changes in gut microbiota, prompting enrichment of beneficial microbes, including Desulfovibrio , a sulfate-reducing bacterium that exerts anti-inflammatory effects [104] and that has been linked to liver detoxification [105], and Mogibacteriaceae , bacteria negatively associated with the risk of thrombosis [106]. These changes in gut microbiota composition were accompanied by enrichment in metabolic pathways, including sulfur metabolism, host glycan degradation, and antimicrobial peptide resistance, all of which are associated with healthy states in humans [32,107].…”