Obesity and gut microbiome: review of potential role of probiotics

Francine Schütz; Margarida Figueiredo-Braga; Pedro Barata; Natália Cruz-Martins

doi:10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000111

Obesity and gut microbiome: review of potential role of probiotics

Porto Biomed J. 2021 Jan 18;6(1):e111. doi: 10.1097/j.pbj.0000000000000111. eCollection 2021 Jan-Feb.

Authors

Francine Schütz¹, Margarida Figueiredo-Braga^{2

3}, Pedro Barata^{4

5}, Natália Cruz-Martins^{1

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedicine.
² Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de São João.
⁴ Fernando Pessoa University.
⁵ Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S).
⁶ Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

Obesity prevalence has increased worldwide over the years, with pandemic levels being already reached, besides to its huge economic and health impacts. The multifactorial pathogenesis of obesity partly explains the important challenge posed to health policy regarding its clinical treatment, with increasing evidences have shown that obesity and metabolic disturbances are closely linked to variations in gut microbiota (GM) function and composition. Indeed, GM play a key contribution in energy metabolism, with GM modulation being increasingly linked to changes in body weight and body mass index. In such matter, probiotics have been proposed as a promising new therapeutic strategy to treat/prevent obesity. Thus, this review aims to provide an overview on the clinical impact and effectiveness of probiotics in obese individuals.

Keywords: gut microbiota; health promotion; inflammation; obesity; probiotics.

Publication types

Review