Interesting new study about gut microbes

[snorkelman]

Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. recently (yesterday) published in the journal Science Translational Medicine an interesting study that in part found that switching mice from a low-fat, plant polysaccharide–rich diet to a high-fat, high-sugar "Western" diet shifted the structure of the microbiota within a single day, changed the representation of metabolic pathways in the microbiome, and altered microbiome gene expression.


The Effect of Diet on the Human Gut Microbiome: A Metagenomic Analysis in Humanized Gnotobiotic Mice, Sci Transl Med 11 November 2009:
Vol. 1, Issue 6, p. 6ra14 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000322
Abstract available at: http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/1/6/6ra14.abstract

Here is an NPR story on the study:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120318757

[RealMenDeadLift]

hmmmm, I'll wait until they perform this on human subjects, GI health is an interesting variable in body composition

[Valjean]

Another great post from snorkel

[SwiftyX]

I don't see how they'll be able to separate cause and effect.
Since the microbiome are used to aid digestion, wouldn't it make sense that the relative populations of strains would have change/adapted based on what you're taking in?


I'm missing the connection between the content of the gut and obesity. If I'm taking in a whole bunch of calories through, lets say sugar my microbiome may be different. But that wouldn't be what's making me obese... it would be the fact that I'm eating so much sugar.
If you change the bacteria without changing the diet, you'll still be fat.

[in10city]

I don't see how they'll be able to separate cause and effect.
Since the microbiome are used to aid digestion, wouldn't it make sense that the relative populations of strains would have change/adapted based on what you're taking in?


I'm missing the connection between the content of the gut and obesity. If I'm taking in a whole bunch of calories through, lets say sugar my microbiome may be different. But that wouldn't be what's making me obese... it would be the fact that I'm eating so much sugar.
If you change the bacteria without changing the diet, you'll still be fat.
In relation to the article and other related data, the shift and differences in microbe populations related to diet and/or obesity often shows an increase in populations that are able to extract more energy value from food [increased ability to break down and ferment fibers, increases in various enzymes to breakdown food, etc..] and microbe and microbe-generated products that cause alterations of gene expression and pathways that regulate energy expenditure and storage [lipoprotein lipase, fasting-induced adipose factor, AMPK, G-protein–coupled receptor].

[CoQ10]

For those who have access to the full-text, do the authors describe the "Western" diet in detail? If so, is it excessively high-sugar/high-fat or is it fairly realistic?

Thanks!

-C10

[in10city]

For those who have access to the full-text, do the authors describe the "Western" diet in detail? If so, is it excessively high-sugar/high-fat or is it fairly realistic?

Thanks!

-C10
This is all that is mentioned in the FT.

"Mice were subsequently maintained in separate cages in a gnotobiotic isolator and fed a LF/PP diet or a high-fat, high-sugar Western diet (Harlan-Teklad TD96132) ad libitum."

I checked the Harlan site and I assume this is the feed profile for just the Western diet.

http://www.harlan.com/download.axd/fb39ca744170495e9d3eba2f84ecde6d.pdf?d=96132