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
. 2024 Jul 23;12(8):1633.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12081633.

Dual Regulation Mechanism of Obesity: DNA Methylation and Intestinal Flora

Yi Ren  1   2   3   4 , Peng Huang  1   2 , Lu Zhang  1   2 , Yu-Fen Tang  1   2 , Sen-Lin Luo  1   2 , Zhou She  1   2 , Hong Peng  1   2 , Yu-Qiong Chen  1   2 , Jin-Wen Luo  1   2 , Wang-Xin Duan  1   2 , Ling-Juan Liu  1   2 , Li-Qun Liu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Dual Regulation Mechanism of Obesity: DNA Methylation and Intestinal Flora

Yi Ren et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Obesity is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory metabolic disorder, with pathogenesis influenced by genetic and non-genetic factors such as environment and diet. Intestinal microbes and their metabolites play significant roles in the occurrence and development of obesity by regulating energy metabolism, inducing chronic inflammation, and impacting intestinal hormone secretion. Epigenetics, which involves the regulation of host gene expression without changing the nucleotide sequence, provides an exact direction for us to understand how the environment, lifestyle factors, and other risk factors contribute to obesity. DNA methylation, as the most common epigenetic modification, is involved in the pathogenesis of various metabolic diseases. The epigenetic modification of the host is induced or regulated by the intestinal microbiota and their metabolites, linking the dynamic interaction between the microbiota and the host genome. In this review, we examined recent advancements in research, focusing on the involvement of intestinal microbiota and DNA methylation in the etiology and progression of obesity, as well as potential interactions between the two factors, providing novel perspectives and avenues for further elucidating the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of obesity.

Keywords: DNA methylation; epigenetics; intestinal flora; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 3
Figure 3
The possible mechanisms through which DNA methylation and intestinal flora contribute to the occurrence and development of obesity.
Figure 1
Figure 1
The left diagram shows the factors of obesity, and the right shows the complications of obesity.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Dynamic epigenetic modifications in the host.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. World Health Organization Obesity and Overweight–Key Facts. WHO. 2018. [(accessed on 20 May 2024)]. Available online: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/
    1. Jebeile H., Kelly A.S., O’Malley G., Baur L.A. Obesity in children and adolescents: Epidemiology, causes, assessment, and management. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2022;10:351–365. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00047-X. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cai D., Khor S. “Hypothalamic Microinflammation” Paradigm in Aging and Metabolic Diseases. Cell Metab. 2019;30:19–35. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.021. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Afshin A., Forouzanfar M.H., Reitsma M.B., Sur P., Estep K., Lee A., Marczak L., Mokdad A.H., Moradi-Lakeh M., Naghavi M., et al. Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years. N. Engl. J. Med. 2017;377:13–27. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miller A.L., Lee H.J., Lumeng J.C. Obesity-associated biomarkers and executive function in children. Pediatr. Res. 2015;77:143–147. doi: 10.1038/pr.2014.158. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources