Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Jul 7;20(1):65.
doi: 10.1186/s12944-021-01491-z.

A review on gut microbiota: a central factor in the pathophysiology of obesity

A L Cunningham  1   2 , J W Stephens  3 , D A Harris  4   3
Affiliations
Review

A review on gut microbiota: a central factor in the pathophysiology of obesity

A L Cunningham et al. Lipids Health Dis. .

Abstract

Obesity and its complications constitute a substantial burden. Considerable published research describes the novel relationships between obesity and gut microbiota communities. It is becoming evident that microbiota behave in a pivotal role in their ability to influence homeostatic mechanisms either to the benefit or detriment of host health, the extent of which is not fully understood. A greater understanding of the contribution of gut microbiota towards host pathophysiology is revealing new therapeutic avenues to tackle the global obesity epidemic. This review focuses on causal relationships and associations with obesity, proposed central mechanisms encouraging the development of obesity and promising prospective methods for microbiota manipulation.

Keywords: Faecal microbiota transplant; Gut microbiota; Metabolic syndrome; Obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Contributions towards obesity development including gut microbiota findings
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Host metabolic pathways influenced by gut microbiota and metabolites including SCFAs, Fiaf inhibition, bile acid metabolism, intestinal mucosal barrier and host inflammatory pathway
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. : World Health Organisation. Obesity and overweight. 2020. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight. Accessed 17 March 2021.
    1. Power ML, Schulkin J. The evolution of obesity. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 2009.
    1. World Health Organisation. Obesity. https://www.who.int/health-topics/obesity#tab=tab_1. Accessed 17 Mar 2021.
    1. : Komaroff AL. The microbiome and risk for obesity and diabetes. JAMA. 2017;317(4):355–356, DOI: 10.1001/jama.2016.20099. - PubMed
    1. Canfora EE, Jocken JW, Blaak EE. Short-chain fatty acids in control of body weight and insulin sensitivity. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2015;11(10):577–591. doi: 10.1038/nrendo.2015.128. - DOI - PubMed