Talking microbes: When gut bacteria interact with diet and host organs

Abstract

Obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic proportions. Evidence suggests that besides dietary habits and physical activity, other environmental factors, such as gut microbes, are recognized as additional partners implicated in the control of energy homeostasis. Studies on the human gut microbiota have shown that the general population can be stratified on the sole basis of three dominant bacteria (i.e., the concept of enterotypes), while some others have suggested categorizing the population according to their microbiome gene richness. Both aspects have been strengthened by recent studies investigating the impact of nutrients (e.g., dietary fibers, fat feeding) and dietary habits (i.e., vegans versus omnivores) of different populations. Using preclinical models, quite a few novel mechanisms have been proposed in these gut microbiota–host interactions, including the role of novel bacteria, the regulation of antimicrobial peptide production, the maintenance of the gut barrier function and intestinal innate immunity. In this review, we discuss several of the aforementioned aspects. Nonetheless, determining the overall mechanisms by which microbes dialogue with host cells will require further investigations before anticipating the development of next‐generation nutritional interventions using prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, or even specific nutrients for promoting health benefits.

Breath methane concentrations and markers of obesity in patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders

“…Genetic and environmental factors, such as diet, medication and lifestyle, are known to influence the composition and metabolism of the human microbiome. 18,19 Population differences in these factors are consequently likely to affect the type and quantity of gas produced during breath tests. Nonetheless, the principal methanogens across several human populations have been shown to be methanobacteriales and Table 4.…”

Food Additives and Contaminants: Effects on Human Gut Microbiota—A Review

“…Chaplin et al [65] did not find any specific impact of high-fat diet on the abundance of A. muciniphila, they found that feeding mice with a high-fat diet enriched with conjugated linoleic acid increased the intestinal A. muciniphila levels, that was associated with several beneficial associations with metabolism [2].…”

“…Humans have approximately 10 times as many microorganisms within their gastrointestinal tract (GI) (approximately 100 trillion) than the number of somatic cells within their body (10 trillion cells) [1,2]. Consequently, the gut microbiota (GM) plays a major role in health and disease in humans: indeed, it is sometimes referred to as our "forgotten organ" [3].…”

Novel insight into the role of microbiota in colorectal surgery

“…Microbial dysbiosis (ie, altered intestinal microbial composition and activity) may contribute to the onset of several disorders, whereas increased microbial diversity and genetic richness are predominantly associated with a beneficial impact 3 4. Moreover, dysbiosis also consists of changes in the microbial metabolism, which consequently change the release of metabolites (eg, short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), bile acids, phenolic compounds) or bacterial components (eg, lipopolysaccharides, peptidoglycans) that act on host gut key functions (gut barrier, gut endocrine function, gut immunity) 5…”