Gut microbiota and its metabolites: Bridge of dietary nutrients and obesity-related diseases

Abstract

While the incidence of obesity keeps increasing in both adults and children worldwide, obesity and its complications remain major threatens to human health. Over the past decades, accumulating evidence has demonstrated the importance of microorganisms and their metabolites in the pathogenesis of obesity and related diseases. There also is a significant body of evidence validating the efficacy of microbial based therapies for managing various diseases. In this review, we collected the key information pertinent to obesity-related bacteria, fermentation substrates and major metabolites generated by studies involving humans and/or mice. We then briefly described the possible molecular mechanisms by which microorganisms cause or inhibit obesity with a focus on microbial metabolites. Lastly, we summarized the advantages and disadvantages of the utilization of probiotics, plant extracts, and exercise in controlling obesity. We speculated that new targets and combined approaches (e.g. diet combined with exercise) could lead to more precise prevention and/or alleviation of obesity in future clinical research implications.

Keywords:

• Microbiota
• mechanisms
• probiotics
• plant extracts
• exercise

Acknowledgements

Our profound admiration and respect go to researchers in this field and in our laboratories, for their dedication and hard work. We apologize to scientists whose work is in this field if their papers are not cited owing to space limitations.

Authors’ contribution

The review was mainly conceived and designed by CW and XM. Literature was collected and analyzed by MZ. The manuscript was mainly written by MZ, and edited by MZ, LJJ, CW, and XM. LJJ provided advice and consultation. XM resourced the project. All the authors contributed to, read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31930106, 31829004 and 31722054), the 2115 Talent Development Program of China Agricultural University (1041-0010919), the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0500601 and 2017YFD0500501) and the National Ten-thousand Talents Program of China (2307201).