It takes ‘guts’ to lose weight

The results of a study carried out by Indian scientists from Pune’s National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS) and city doctors are in line with the several works carried out by the scientists in the West that suggest the presence and proportion of certain bacteria in the gut having a direct correlation with obesity in individuals.

The study titled ‘Molecular Analysis of Gut Microbiota in Obesity among Indian individuals’ has been published in the latest September issue of Journal of Biosciences.

“It is the role of bacteria present in the gut to help in digestion. Our study suggests that this bacteria determines how obese or lean people are and that the gut flora composition of fat or thin people is different,” said NCCS scientist Dr Yogesh Shouche.

The research conducted over a period of four years with help of obesity surgeon Dr Shashank Shah from Ruby Hall Clinic and Dr DR Ranade from Agharkar Research Institute is the first Indian study to find link between obesity and gut microflora.

Shouche said that a small sample size was selected and classified into obese, treated obese, normal and lean individuals based on body mass index. The faecal samples were obtained and DNA was extracted to identify gut bacteria, and later gut microbial diversity was assessed.

“Microbiota are the trillions of bacteria in our gut that help digest food. Most of this bacteria come from two major groups called Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. What our research suggests is that the proportion in which these two groups are present will influence obesity,” said Shouche.

The Pune study has suggested that in obese individuals the bacteria of genus Bacteroidetes account for 40% of the sequences. In normal individuals, it was less than 10%. “This study has several limitations, the main being that the sample size was too small. Just understanding microbiota isn’t enough. We need in-depth studies on other associated factors before concluding that changes in gut microbiota can influence obesity,” he said.

The scientist said that researchers have now embarked on a project to study the gut microbiota of lean individuals.

“We need to carry out more studies as it difficult to extrapolate the study findings based on small sample size,” he said.