El papel de la microbiota intestinal en el desarrollo de la obesidad y de la diabetes de tipo-2 / The role of intestinal microbiota in the development of obesity and type-2 diabetes

ABSTRACT

The intestinal microbiota (IM) is a complex consortium including a great number of bacteria, fungi, yeasts, virus and phages. The harmonic crosstalk between the IM, the epithelia barrier and the local immune system determine gut homeostasis in the healthy subject. The IM plays a key role in regulating energy harvest, energy expenditure, fat storage and food intake in the host. Increasing evidence suggests that bacterial composition, functional genes and metabolic activities of the IM are altered in the subjects with obesity or type-2 diabetes (T2D). It appears that dietary fat is also an important factor which affects the IM composition as well as the gut barrier function and the plasma levels of LPS. This metabolic endotoxemia would contribute to the development of systemic low grade inflammation, insulin resistance and T2D. The development of dietary (prebiotics, probiotics) and therapeutic (antibiotics, microbiota transplantation) tools to reestablish the homeostasis of the IM constitute interesting new strategies for the prevention or management of obesity and T2D...