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PMID: 22339979 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Review

Obesity and its associated disease: a role for microbiota?

Neurogastroenterology and motility : the official journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society ·Vol. 24 ·No. 4 ·2012-04-00 ·Pages 305-11

Tehrani AB, Nezami BG, Gewirtz A, Srinivasan S

Abstract

Gut microbiota have recently been implicated in the pathogenesis of the obesity and its related metabolic diseases. A variety of factors including diet, genetic background, environment and host innate and adaptive immune responses define an individual's gut microbiota. In this review we outline potential mechanisms by which gut microbiota can contribute to the development of obesity focusing on specific processes such as microbial energy extraction, microbiota induced-inflammation and regulation of appetite. We review the current understanding of each of these processes on regulating metabolism and examine potential therapeutic strategies for the treatment or prevention of the metabolic syndrome. We explore the hypothesis that alteration in gut microbiota may be an initial event leading to altered feeding behavior and/or systemic inflammation, ultimately leading to weight gain and the metabolic syndrome.

MeSH Terms
Animals Digestive System/microbiology Humans Metagenome Obesity/microbiology
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Tehrani A Bonakdar
Division of Digestive Diseases, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Nezami B G
Gewirtz A
Srinivasan S
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Article Info
Journal
Neurogastroenterology and motility : the official journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society
Abbr.
Neurogastroenterol Motil
ISSN
1365-2982
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2982.2012.01895.x
Published
2012-04-00
Epub
2012-00-20
Pages
305-11
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9432572
PMCID
PMC3303978
Subset
IM
Grants
NIDDK NIH HHS · R01 DK080684 · United States
NIDDK NIH HHS · R01 DK080684-01A2 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2982.2012.01895.x PMC Full Text View journal details
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