Gut microbiota in obesity and metabolic disorders

SANZ, YOLANDA; SANTACRUZ, ARLETTE; GAUFFIN CANO, PAOLA

Girona, Spain

Workshop; 3º International Immunonutrition workshop; 2009

GUT MICROBIOTA IN OBESITY AND METABOLIC D ISORDERS Yolanda Sanz, Arlette Santacruz and Paola Gauffin Microbial Ecophysiology and Nutrition Group. Institute 01 Agrochemistry and Food Technology (lATA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Valencia. Spain. yolsanz@iata.csic.es Running title: Gut microbiota, obesity and metabolic disorders. Obesity is a major public health issue as it is causally related to several chronic disorders, including type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The gut microbiota is considered a novel factor involved in obesity and metabolic disorders. Obese animal and human subjects have alterations in the structure of the gut microbiota microbiota compared to their lean counterparts. Moreover, transplantation of the microbiota of either obese- or lean mice influences body weight in the germ-free recipient mice, suggesting that the gut ecosystem is a relevant target to weight management. Indigenous gut microbes may regulate body weight by influencing the host´s metabolic, neuroendocrine and immune functions. The intestinal microbiota, as a whole, provides additional metabolic capacities and regulates the host´s gene expression, improving its ability to extract and to store energy from the diet and contributing to body weight gain. Imbalances in the gut microbiota and increases in plasma lipopolysaccharide may also act as inflammatory factors causative of atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and body-weight gain. In contrast, specific probiotics, prebiotics and related metabolites may exert beneficial effects on lipid and glucose metabolism, expression of satiety peptides, and the inflammatory tone related to obesity and the associated metabolic disorders. This evidence is contrbuting to the understanding of the influence of environmental factors in these metabolic conditions and offers new opportunities for the design of improved dietary intervention strategies to prevent these disorders. Key-words: gut microbiota, obesity, chronic inflammation, type 2 diabetes, probiotics, prebiotics.