International Dairy Journal
Volume 20, Issue 4, April 2010, Pages 277-280
Nutritional modulation of gut microbiota in the context of obesity and insulin resistance: Potential interest of prebiotics
Nathalie M. Delzenne and Patrice D. Cani
Abstract
Obesity in humans leads to changes in the composition of gut microbiota, some
of those changes being reversed
upon dieting and changes in dietary habits. The studies devoted to understand
how gut microbes control host energy
homeostasis are of interest, in order to estimate how specific nutrients that
induce changes in gut microbiota composition
and/or activity such as prebiotics could be relevant in the management
of obesity and related disorders.
This review presents the potential molecular mechanisms allowing the gut microbiota
to control host energy homeostasis,
and presents the potential mechanisms evoked in the improvement of obesity by
colonic nutrients that target the gut microbiota.
It also discusses the relevance of this new area of research in human nutrition
and health.