Role of the intestinal microbiota in obesity

Use of probiotics and prebiotics

Abstract

Long, it is known that the human microbiota plays an important role in digestive health. However, recent research indicates that this microbiota may be related to more general aspects of health such as obesity. Thanks to metagenomic analysis, it has been determined that there are differences in the composition of the gut microbiota between individuals with and without obesity. The differences are that obese individuals have lower microbial diversity those individuals with normal weight. Moreover, its microbiota has a greater ability to recover energy from the diet and participate in the development of a state of chronic low-grade inflammation in the body. To remedy the deficiency of certain bacterial groups played functions beneficial for the body’s use of probiotics and prebiotics as an effective strategy to modulate the gut microbiota in order to reduce certain risk factors associated with obesity arises. This review will consider scientific data underlying these proposals. Recent results obtained from studies focusing on the relationship between the gut microbiota to obesity are also collected.