Lipopolysaccharides derived from gram-negative bacterial pool of human gut microbiota promote inflammation and obesity development

Abstract

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. It is found from intestinal microbes in the circulatory system and considered a trigger factor for low-grade inflammation in obesity. High-fat diet intake and its related obesity can cause gut microbiota disorder, leading to increased gut permeability, paracellular absorption and transcellular transport of endogenous endotoxin in the cardiovascular system. High-fat diet intake can also increase plasma LPS levels, and causing chronic or “low-grade” inflammation. In this review article, we summarize the recent research advancements on the mechanism of low-grade inflammation and its related obesity. We also propose several approaches that can be used to reduce endogenous endotoxin absorption.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08830185.2021.1996573 .

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Endotoxin
• lipopolysaccharides
• high-fat diet
• inflammation
• obesity
• gut permeability

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2020B020226008, 2018B020206001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC31171673).