Impact of Certain Gut Microbes on Body Composition and Metabolism

There are major effects in the United States and Europe to help identify the role of microbial communities in the human body. The colon requires a balance of microbial agents that assist with various functions of the body. An imbalance can lead to C.diff., irritable bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), neurological disorders, and obesity just to list a few. Many of these problems have grown to an epidemic proportion. Both the United States and Europe have started projects aimed at the microbial communities of the body and their roles in our health.

Unique microbiota could suggest a human’s current health or if there is any forthcoming chronic disease (Ley, 2006). Families with shared healthy microbes may be able to help relatives who suffer from gastrointestinal disease; but the extant to which the microbiome is shared across generations is not readily known and more research is needed. The core trends for current research revolve around control of obesity, treatment of gastrointestinal diseases such as Crohn’s, and hormonal manipulation in cases of depression. It is imperative to learn to eat for optimal health, to evolve along with the commensals (Turner et al., 2013) as human diets influence diversity of microbes present (Ley et al., 2008). This is a relatively new field with exciting prospects of positive outcomes for some of society’s more chronic

Research was conducted comparing the intestinal bacteria of obese and thin people, which showed that microbes in the thin individuals intestines where much more diverse than that of an obese individuals. Studies showed that thin individuals

The gut microbiota encompasses trillions of microorganisms that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract (Carding et al. 2015). The composition of the gut microbiota is constantly evolving and can be susceptible to both endogenous and exogenous modifications (Carding et al. 2015). The microbiota

Over two-thirds of adults, or nearly 69 percent are considered overweight or obese. Of those, more than one-third are considered to be obese, while more than 1 in 20 are classified with extreme obesity.1 The main causes of these overwhelming rates of overweight and obesity are all too familiar: an unhealthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle and to a lesser extent perhaps genes play a role as well. In recent years, however, researchers have become increasingly focused on a potential additional contributor to the obesity epidemic that lives inside us all: billions and billions of gut microbes or microbiota.2

Purpose: This experiment seeks to find my passion through exposure to different fields by reading.

Scientists are beginning to recognize the link between gut microbiota and inflammation and the role it plays in the pathogenesis of obesity-related disorders like diabetes (type two). Using animals, scientists have been able to link obesity models of a microbiota composition that is different than what is expected when observed for obesity development and insulin resistance. This means that this altered microbiota composition is linked to the development of obesity and insulin resistance. This can be seen through multiple mechanisms, including “increased energy harvest from the diet, altered fatty acid metabolism and composition in adipose tissue and liver, modulation of the gut peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 secretion, activation of the lipopolysaccharide toll-like receptor-4 axis, and modulation of the intestinal barrier integrity by GLP-2”. It is imperative to understand the mechanisms that regulate gut microbiota compositions that produce these various compositions. During infancy, several factors that can affect the gut microbiota include delivery mode, type of feeding, hospitalization, and possible prematurity. The use of antibiotics and the infant’s diet are also becoming increasingly recognized as factors that can affect one’s susceptibility to developing type two diabetes. The typical Western diet has played a significant role in

It is surely not uncommon to see people carry around different kinds of disinfectant sprays and other chemical products in order to reduce the amount of bacteria and germs on their skin and in their body. However, the fact is that distal human intestine represents “an anaerobic bioreactor programmed with an enormous population of bacteria.” The study was conducted in order to assess the influence of microbiota on the energy storage in mice raised without exposure to any microorganisms compared to the control group that had acquired a microbiota since birth. The study showed that the control group of mice acquired 40% more total body fat than their germ free counterparts, despite the fact that the control group consumed less food per day. This came as a result of microbiota that provide us with genetic and metabolic attributes we have not acquired in our own evolutionary process, such as the ability to harvest otherwise inaccessible nutrients. Coming back to Elizabeth Willson’s contention, study of the microstructure, in this case the gut microbiota, has had a reorganizing effect on how we view our bodies and forced us put greater value to the role of microorganisms in our own survival.

The word microbiota represents an ensemble of microorganisms that reside in a previously established environment; humans have microbiota throughout many different areas of the body, not exclusively the gut (Gut Microbiota). Our gut is full of trillions of different species of bacteria that is used and necessary for many different functions. Each bacteria is used for a variety of different functions. They are used to help digest certain food that the human body cannot alone and it plays an important role in the immune system (Gut Microbiota). Many people do not understand the concept of having such as vast amount of bacteria in their gut, let alone the importance of its presence to their

Enteric infections are often caused by foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli. The impact these pathogens have on the human body can depend on their pathogenicity and possibly even the hosts’ resident intestinal microbiome. The research aim was therefore to evaluate the possible effects the intestinal microbiome could have on susceptibility to and recovery from enteric infections. By evaluating the microbial compositions present in faecal samples of patients with enteric infections and their uninfected family members by DNA sequencing, the authors discovered levels of the microbes Proteobacteria were higher in infected persons while levels of the microbes Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were lower in uninfected persons. Future

Modern day medicine is continuously altering due to the advancement of technology and due to occurring discoveries. The discovery of microbiomes further applies in that there is the possibility of their being used in the processes of medicine. Though it is known that microbiomes have the possibility to be used

Apart from environmental factors, the microbiome composition also relies on the diet of the hosts. Studies have shown that host lineages that share a similar gut physiology and diet tend to have the same gut microbiome [1]. These studies were initially performed on apes to study their phylogeny. However, due to the complexity and the diversity of the mammalian gut microbes, the studies were more focused on insects like flies, beetles and ants [1].

The gut microbiota consists of bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoans, often belonging to the phyla of Frimicutes, Bacteroides, Actinobacteria, and Protebacteria (3). Although, more than a thousand different bacteria are found in the human intestine, only 150 to 170 species are common between different individuals, so microbiotas are specific for each individual (4). Imbalance in the symbiosis of digestive tract microbiotas (dysbiosis) can occur in a variety of ways, including dietary

If the makeup of bad bacteria out numbers good bacteria, there is a risk of developing various diseases. Here we will discuss about the inextricable linkage between bad gut bacteria and weight gain.

D., Hartstra, A. V., Dallinga-Thie, G. M., & Nieuwdorp, M. (2014). Intestinal microbiota and faecal transplantation as treatment modality for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Clinical & Experimental Immunology, 177(1), 24-29. doi:10.1111/cei.12293