The Epigenetic Connection Between the Gut Microbiome in Obesity and Diabetes

Abstract

Metabolic diseases are becoming an alarming health issue due to elevated incidences of these diseases over the past few decades. Various environmental factors are associated with a number of metabolic diseases and often play a crucial role in this process. Amongst the factors, diet is the most important factor that can regulate these diseases via modulation of the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome participates in multiple metabolic processes in the human body and is mainly responsible for regulation of host metabolism. The alterations in function and composition of the gut microbiota have been known to be involved in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases via induction of epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and regulation by noncoding RNAs. These induced epigenetic modifications can also be regulated by metabolites produced by the gut microbiota including short-chain fatty acids, folates, biotin and trimethylamine-N-oxide. In addition, studies have elucidated the potential role of these microbial-produced metabolites in the pathophysiology of obesity and diabetes. Hence, this review focuses on the interactions between the gut microbiome and epigenetic processes in the regulation and development of obesity and diabetes, which may have potential as a novel preventive or therapeutic approach for several metabolic and other human diseases.

Letrozole and the Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shaofu Zhuyu Decoction, Reduce Endometriotic Disease Progression in Rats: A Potential Role for Gut Microbiota

“…Our analysis of the α-diversity confirmed that letrozole impaired the richness and evenness of gut microbiota in rats and diminished the abundance of Ruminococcaceae. In addition, when we evaluated the changes in body weights of rats in each group, we demonstrated that the upregulation of the Firmicutes/ Bacteroidetes ratio was generally associated with obesity [25]. Although rat body weight in the letrozole group increased significantly, the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in this group was not significantly different from the blank group.…”

Compound Fu brick tea modifies the intestinal microbiome composition in high‐fat diet‐induced obesity mice

“…Alloprevotella have been found to improve obesity (Sharma, Li, Stoll, & Tollefsbol, 2020). The content of Parabacteroides was higher in the low-dose group (FL).…”

Genetic and Epigenetic Aspects of Atopic Dermatitis

“…In agreement with this, children who are treated with antibiotics in early childhood have a higher risk of allergies [87,88]. There is a lack of direct data on the impact of the microorganisms on the epigenetic processes in allergy, however, some data indicate that the alterations in function and composition of the gut microbiota are implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, e.g., obesity and diabetes via the induction of epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and regulation by non-coding RNAs [89].…”