Could Healthy Gut Microbiota Prevent Metabolic Syndrome?

Increasing healthy microbiota in the gut could help prevent or treat metabolic syndrome, stroke, and diabetes, according to a recent study.

For the study, researchers compared mice lacking the Toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5-null mice) to wild mice. Siblings were used as controls during the study.
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Researchers divided the mice by genotype and sex or by sex only and then mice were examined for microbiota composition.

The study showed that the lack of TLR5 on the intestinal surface caused bacterial alternations that encourages inflammation and ultimately leads to metabolic syndrome.

Further, investigators discovered the flagellin activation of TlR5 on intestinal epithelial cells regulated the composition of the intestinal microbiota, which prevented associated diseases (such as Crohn’s diesase and ulcerative colitis) from intestinal inflammation. 

“These results suggest that developing a means to promote a more healthy microbiota can treat or prevent metabolic disease,” said Andrew Gewirtz, PhD, an author of the study and a professor at the institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

“They confirm the concept that altered microbiota can promote low-grade inflammation and metabolic syndrome and advance the underlying mechanism. We showed that the altered bacterial population is more aggressive in infiltrating the host and producing substances, namely flagellin and lipopolysaccharide, that further promote inflammation,” he said.

The complete study is published in Gastroenterology.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:

Georgia State University. Healthy gut microbiota can prevent metabolic syndrome, researchers say. November 25, 2014. http://news.gsu.edu/2014/11/25/healthy-gut-microbiota-can-prevent-metabolic-syndrome-researchers-say/. Accessed November 25, 2014.