title: Systematic analysis of the association between gut flora and obesity through high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics approaches.
abstract: Eighty-one stool samples from Taiwanese were collected for analysis of the association between the gut flora and obesity. The supervised analysis showed that the most, abundant genera of bacteria in normal samples (from people with a body mass index (BMI) ≤ 24) were Bacteroides (27.7%), Prevotella (19.4%), Escherichia (12%), Phascolarctobacterium (3.9%), and Eubacterium (3.5%). The most abundant genera of bacteria in case samples (with a BMI ≥ 27) were Bacteroides (29%), Prevotella (21%), Escherichia (7.4%), Megamonas (5.1%), and Phascolarctobacterium (3.8%). A principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) demonstrated that normal samples were clustered more compactly than case samples. An unsupervised analysis demonstrated that bacterial communities in the gut were clustered into two main groups: N-like and OB-like groups. Remarkably, most normal samples (78%) were clustered in the N-like group, and most case samples (81%) were clustered in the OB-like group (Fisher's P  value = 1.61E - 07). The results showed that bacterial communities in the gut were highly associated with obesity. This is the first study in Taiwan to investigate the association between human gut flora and obesity, and the results provide new insights into the correlation of bacteria with the rising trend in obesity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chih
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan ; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hsinchu Mackay Memorial Hospital, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan ; Mackay Medicine, Nursing and Management College, Taipei 104, Taiwan ; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City 251, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shun-Long
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Tseng Han-Chi General Hospital, Nantou 542, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Han-Chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Health GeneTech Corporation, Taoyuan 330, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Health GeneTech Corporation, Taoyuan 330, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Chi
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Ling
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Health GeneTech Corporation, Taoyuan 330, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chen-Tsung
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Hao
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan ; Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan ; Center for Bioinformatics Research, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan ; Department of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsien-Da
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D044822:Biodiversity; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000382:microbiology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers