Study: Microbes might affect obesity

PHOENIX, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have confirmed a link between differing microbial populations in the human gut and body weight.

Researchers from Arizona State University, the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and the University of Arizona said microbes occupying the human gut number in the tens of trillions, helping the body perform a variety of regulatory and digestive functions, many still poorly understood.

The study revealed a link between differing microbial populations in the human gut and body weight among three distinct groups: normal weight individuals, those who have undergone gastric bypass surgery, and patients suffering the condition of morbid obesity -- a serious, often life-threatening condition associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and psychosocial disorders.

The team's central hypothesis that differing microbial populations in the gut allow the body to harvest more energy, making people more susceptible to becoming obese was supported by the study's confirmation that the microbial composition among obese patients appears significantly altered compared with both normal weight individuals and those who have undergone gastric bypass surgery.

The research is reported in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.