Gut microbiota of obese individuals and their relation with the onset of obesity / Microbiota intestinal de indivíduos obesos e a sua relação com o início da obesidade

The gut microbiota has been linked to obesity in humans. This study aimed to characterize the fecal microbiota of normal weight, overweight and obese individuals and the interaction with metabolic parameters and the development of obesity. Blood and feces samples were collected from 169 patients. Patients were grouped based on body mass index (BMI): normal weight (NW, 18-24.9), overweight (OW, 25-29.9) and obesity (OB, ≥ 30) with age between 18 and 30 years. Serum of patient was used to characterize the metabolic profile and fecal microbiota was characterized. As expected, Firmicutes presented the highest proportion. No significant differences were found in the microbiota when compared among the groups. The most abundant genera in normal weight individuals were an OTU belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae. OW patients, the most abundant genera were Bacillus. In OB patients, the most abundant genera were an OTU belonging to the family Lachnospiraceae. The results os metabolic profile showed significant differences to OB group mainly for cholesterol, Triglycerides, LDL-c, HOMA, and TBARS. These results will help us to understand the connection between microbiota and metabolic profile in those groups.