Papel en la obesidad de la microbiota intestinal

Abstract

The contribution of the gut microbiota to the development of many diseases, including obesity, is being thoroughly explored. Although mechanisms are not fully understood, perturbations on gut microbiota composition seem to be related to overweight. Indeed, subjects with excessive body weight, show impairment in intestinal levels of Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes as compared to lean individuals. Therefore, modulation of gut bacterial community with approaches that could enhance the growth of “healthy” bacteria and reduce harmful bacteria might be an effective therapeutic tool against obesity. Bi-directional interactions between natural compounds and the gut microbiota taking place at intestinal level, has been hypothesized to be partly responsible for the health beneficial outcomes. The consumption of high-fat high-sucrose diets strongly impacts gut microbiota composition impairing the bacterial balance towards an obesity-associated gut microbial pattern, which may be the basis for a precision management of obesity. Remarkably, the administration of bioactive compounds could counteract the disturbance of gut microbiota related to diet-induced obesity, promoting the growth of some beneficial bacteria while reducing some pathogenic and obesity- associated microbes. Biological outcomes exerted by dietary interventions and polyphenol administration on global host metabolome might be distinguished through a faecal non-targeted metabolomic analysis, where individuals might be also stratified in different groups based on the dietary intervention for personalized treatments . Therefore, this overview aimed to provide a snapshot of this complex system consisting of gut microbiota, diet and polyphenols, host metabolism and obesity taking advantage of advanced technologies namely next-generation sequencing and untargeted metabolomics.