Bug in the Gut May Trigger Obesity

(December 21, 2006) -- Very efficient bacteria in the digestive tracts of obese people may provide a theory on why they get fat, U.S. researchers said.

Humans need the bacteria to help convert indigestible foods into a digestible form and bacteria in obese people are better at the conversion, scientists from Washington University in St. Louis said in two papers published in Nature. Because the bacteria are good at their job, obese people get more energy than non-obese people from the same amount of food -- and those extra calories are deposited in fat.

In both studies, a family of bacteria known as firmicutes was more plentiful in obese patients, scientists said. They concluded the firmicutes were better at digesting food, such as complex sugars, that the body can't. When obese people lost weight, the amount of firmicutes fell. One paper studied humans, the other mice.

If the findings hold true under further study, researchers said methods could be developed to induce weight loss or prevent weight gain.

Others said it was too soon to manipulate the bacteria in hopes of a slimmer body. For example, the amount of efficient bacteria could be a result of obesity, not its cause.

Source: United Press International

Last updated: 12/06

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