The Gut Microbiota and Effects on Metabolism

摘要: The gut microbiota is a large and diverse community of microbes that contribute to human metabolism in two ways: by providing nutrients vitamins essential for mammalian viability promoting maximal extraction calories from dietary nutrients. Long known benefit health, emerging evidence indicates the also contributes disease, specifically diseases with metabolic dysfunction – obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease. Putative mechanisms linking obesity its complications include microbial effects on (1) short-chain fatty acid production, (2) lipid storage fat oxidation, (3) conversion choline into methylamines, (4) bile acids, (5) intestinal barrier integrity, (6) inflammatory signaling through pattern recognition receptors. While majority mechanistic studies are confined animal models, including both vivo vitro approaches, recent advances utilizing fecal transplants research offer potential study microbiota-mediated abnormalities man. Deliberate manipulation holds much promise development novel therapeutics interventions modify thus improve health.