The microbiota-obesity connection, Part 2

Abstract

The epidemic levels of obesity and overweight conditions on a global scale have resulted in an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, cholelithiasis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, as well as breast, lung, uterine, and ovarian cancer. It is clearly evident that the growing incidence of obesity and obesity-related disease has reached a crisis level that necessitates a change in paradigm from a symptoms treatment approach to a preventive and individualized model of health care. There are numerous causative factors that contribute to the development of obesity including genetic predisposition, poor diet, low levels of physical activity, and other unhealthy behaviors. Although the primary causative factor that leads to the development of obesity is a dysbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure, recent research suggests that intestinal microbiota plays an important role in the control of body weight, energy homeostasis, and inflammation and therefore is an important consideration in the pathophysiology of obesity. Alterations in intestinal microbiota are known to increase intestinal permeability with subsequent systemic inflammation. Research evidence supports the antiobesity effects of probiotics as therapeutic agents that can help modulate richness and diversity of intestinal microbiota in obese states, thereby decreasing inflammation and insulin resistance.