Gut check: testing a role for the intestinal microbiome in human obesity.
By using germ-free mice transplanted with human fecal microbiota, scientists show that a high-fat, high-sugar diet durably changes the transplanted microbiome and that this diet-altered microbiome promotes obesity. This model should encourage investigation of the gut microbiome as a contributor to human metabolic disease and permit discovery of targets for the prevention and treatment of these disorders.
Flier
Jeffrey S
JS
Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. jeffrey_flier@hms.harvard.edu
Mekalanos
John J
JJ
D000818:Animals; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D009765:Obesity / Q000382:microbiology*