Early nutritional environment: focus on health effects of microbiota and probiotics
TL;DR: Interventions with immunomodulatory diets, including certain nutrients and probiotics, may be critical in coordinating the adaptive function necessary for the formation of tolerance and thus in the prevention of undesirable metabolic consequences.
Abstract: Balanced maternal nutrition during pregnancy ensures both the growth and development of the foetus and the well-being of the mother. Recent evidence supports the programming theory, which envisages long-lasting effects on later risk of chronic life-style-related diseases by early nutrition. The increasing problem of overweight, affecting almost half of the female population in Western societies, sets off adverse programming effects in the offspring manifested in subsequent health effects. To combat this problem, new tools involving life-style modifications are being actively sought to increment the traditional approaches. Immunonutrition, the ability of nutrients to influence the activities of cells in the immune system, may be one answer in combating low-grade systemic inflammation, the key underlying determinant in the obesity epidemic. Further, microbial compounds possess immunomodulatory properties which may be utilised to improve immune responses in clinically meaningful ways. Aberrant microbiota compositions have been detected during critical periods when early programming occurs, including pregnancy and infancy. Such alterations may regulate the health of the infant and the risk of subsequent disease, as demonstrated by the divergence in gut microbiota composition between healthy and overweight individuals. It may thus be hypothesised that the composition of the gut microbiota could be used as a target for intervention. Probiotics interact with the mucosal immune system via the same pathways as commensal bacteria to influence both innate and adaptive immune responses. In consequence, interventions with immunomodulatory diets, including certain nutrients and probiotics, may be critical in coordinating the adaptive function necessary for the formation of tolerance and thus in the prevention of undesirable metabolic consequences.
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TL;DR: It is concluded that the exposure to the adequate microbes early in gestation and neonatal period seems to have a relevant role in health and probiotic interventions aiming to reduce the risk of immune-mediated diseases may appear effective during early life.
Abstract: The role of human microbiota has been redefined during recent years and its physiological role is now much more important than earlier understood. Intestinal microbial colonization is essential for...
213 citations
TL;DR: The observed alterations demonstrate that fish fed experimental diets had different signs of gut oedema and inflammation that could compromise their body homeostasis, which is mainly maintained by the epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract.
158 citations
TL;DR: A review of the many genetic and environmental variables that interact to cause predisposed individuals to become obese and diabetic focuses on the brain and its interactions with the external and internal environment.
Abstract: Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often occur together and affect a growing number of individuals in both the developed and developing worlds. Both are associated with a number of other serious illnesses that lead to increased rates of mortality. There is likely a polygenic mode of inheritance underlying both disorders, but it has become increasingly clear that the pre- and postnatal environments play critical roles in pushing predisposed individuals over the edge into a disease state. This review focuses on the many genetic and environmental variables that interact to cause predisposed individuals to become obese and diabetic. The brain and its interactions with the external and internal environment are a major focus given the prominent role these interactions play in the regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis in health and disease.
130 citations
TL;DR: It is likely that a better understanding of the role of different food components in intestinal homeostasis and the resident microbiota will be essential for unravelling the complex molecular basis of the epigenetic, genetic and environment interactions underlying IBD pathogenesis as well as for offering dietary interventions with minimal side effects.
Abstract: Bacterial colonization of the gut shapes both the local and the systemic immune response and is implicated in the modulation of immunity in both healthy and disease states. Recently, quantitative and qualitative changes in the composition of the gut microbiota have been detected in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, reinforcing the hypothesis of dysbiosis as a relevant mechanism underlying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis. Humans and microbes have co-existed and co-evolved for a long time in a mutually beneficial symbiotic association essential for maintaining homeostasis. However, the microbiome is dynamic, changing with age and in response to environmental modifications. Among such environmental factors, food and alimentary habits, progressively altered in modern societies, appear to be critical modulators of the microbiota, contributing to or co-participating in dysbiosis. In addition, food constituents such as micronutrients are important regulators of mucosal immunity, with direct or indirect effects on the gut microbiota. Moreover, food constituents have recently been shown to modulate epigenetic mechanisms, which can result in increased risk for the development and progression of IBD. Therefore, it is likely that a better understanding of the role of different food components in intestinal homeostasis and the resident microbiota will be essential for unravelling the complex molecular basis of the epigenetic, genetic and environment interactions underlying IBD pathogenesis as well as for offering dietary interventions with minimal side effects.
117 citations
TL;DR: The hypothesis that targeting early interaction with microbes might offer an applicable strategy to prevent disease is supported and maternal microbiota may prove to be a safe and effective target for interventions decreasing the risk of allergic and noncommunicable diseases in future generations.
Abstract: Modern civilization is faced with a progressive increase in immune-mediated or inflammatory health problems such as allergic disease, autoimmune disorders, and obesity. An extended version of the hygiene hypothesis has been introduced to emphasize the intimate interrelationship among diet, the immune system, microbiome, and origins of human disease: the modern infant, particularly when delivered by cesarean section and without the recommended exclusive breastfeeding, may lack sufficient stimulation of the mucosal immune system to generate a tolerogenic immune milieu and instead be prone to develop chronic inflammatory conditions. These deviations may take the form of allergic or autoimmune disease, or predispose the child to higher weight gain and obesity. Moreover, evidence supports the role of first microbial contacts in promoting and maintaining a balanced immune response in early life and recent findings suggest that microbial contact begins prior to birth and is shaped by the maternal microbiota. Maternal microbiota may prove to be a safe and effective target for interventions decreasing the risk of allergic and noncommunicable diseases in future generations. These results support the hypothesis that targeting early interaction with microbes might offer an applicable strategy to prevent disease.
67 citations
Cites background from "Early nutritional environment: focu..."
...In pregnant women with obesity, a vicious cycle of nonfavorable metabolic development may be generated if their altered gut microbiota composition is transferred to the infant (20,21)....
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...We have reported that maternal nutritional status affects the immunomodulatory potential of milk in terms of microbes and immunomodulatory factors (TGFβ2, sCD14, and cytokines) (21)....
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References
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TL;DR: It is shown that the relative proportion of Bacteroidetes is decreased in obese people by comparison with lean people, and that this proportion increases with weight loss on two types of low-calorie diet.
Abstract: Two groups of beneficial bacteria are dominant in the human gut, the Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes. Here we show that the relative proportion of Bacteroidetes is decreased in obese people by comparison with lean people, and that this proportion increases with weight loss on two types of low-calorie diet. Our findings indicate that obesity has a microbial component, which might have potential therapeutic implications.
7,550 citations
"Early nutritional environment: focu..." refers background in this paper
...Obese human adults on a hypocaloric diet (either low carbohydrate- or low fat-containing diet) have shown significant increases in the faecal proportions of Bacteroidetes paralleled by weight loss over a one-year intervention in a few subjects, although species diversity was reported to remain constant (Ley et al., 2006)....
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TL;DR: Dysfunction of the immune response and metabolic regulation interface can be viewed as a central homeostatic mechanism, dysfunction of which can lead to a cluster of chronic metabolic disorders, particularly obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Abstract: Metabolic and immune systems are among the most fundamental requirements for survival. Many metabolic and immune response pathways or nutrient- and pathogen-sensing systems have been evolutionarily conserved throughout species. As a result, immune response and metabolic regulation are highly integrated and the proper function of each is dependent on the other. This interface can be viewed as a central homeostatic mechanism, dysfunction of which can lead to a cluster of chronic metabolic disorders, particularly obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Collectively, these diseases constitute the greatest current threat to global human health and welfare.
7,536 citations
TL;DR: Analysis of the microbiota of genetically obese ob/ob mice, lean ob/+ and wild-type siblings, and their ob/+ mothers, all fed the same polysaccharide-rich diet, indicates that obesity affects the diversity of the gut microbiota and suggests that intentional manipulation of community structure may be useful for regulating energy balance in obese individuals.
Abstract: We have analyzed 5,088 bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences from the distal intestinal (cecal) microbiota of genetically obese ob/ob mice, lean ob/+ and wild-type siblings, and their ob/+ mothers, all fed the same polysaccharide-rich diet. Although the majority of mouse gut species are unique, the mouse and human microbiota(s) are similar at the division (superkingdom) level, with Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes dominating. Microbial-community composition is inherited from mothers. However, compared with lean mice and regardless of kinship, ob/ob animals have a 50% reduction in the abundance of Bacteroidetes and a proportional increase in Firmicutes. These changes, which are division-wide, indicate that, in this model, obesity affects the diversity of the gut microbiota and suggest that intentional manipulation of community structure may be useful for regulating energy balance in obese individuals.
5,365 citations
TL;DR: It is found that changes of gut microbiota induced by an antibiotic treatment reduced metabolic endotoxemia and the cecal content of LPS in both high-fat–fed and ob/ob mice, demonstrating that changes in gut microbiota controls metabolic endotoxinemia, inflammation, and associated disorders by a mechanism that could increase intestinal permeability.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE— Diabetes and obesity are characterized by a low-grade inflammation whose molecular origin is unknown. We previously determined, first, that metabolic endotoxemia controls the inflammatory tone, body weight gain, and diabetes, and second, that high-fat feeding modulates gut microbiota and the plasma concentration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), i.e., metabolic endotoxemia. Therefore, it remained to demonstrate whether changes in gut microbiota control the occurrence of metabolic diseases. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— We changed gut microbiota by means of antibiotic treatment to demonstrate, first, that changes in gut microbiota could be responsible for the control of metabolic endotoxemia, the low-grade inflammation, obesity, and type 2 diabetes and, second, to provide some mechanisms responsible for such effect. RESULTS— We found that changes of gut microbiota induced by an antibiotic treatment reduced metabolic endotoxemia and the cecal content of LPS in both high-fat–fed and ob/ob mice. This effect was correlated with reduced glucose intolerance, body weight gain, fat mass development, lower inflammation, oxidative stress, and macrophage infiltration marker mRNA expression in visceral adipose tissue. Importantly, high-fat feeding strongly increased intestinal permeability and reduced the expression of genes coding for proteins of the tight junctions. Furthermore, the absence of CD14 in ob/ob CD14 − / − mutant mice mimicked the metabolic and inflammatory effects of antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS— This new finding demonstrates that changes in gut microbiota controls metabolic endotoxemia, inflammation, and associated disorders by a mechanism that could increase intestinal permeability. It would thus be useful to develop strategies for changing gut microbiota to control, intestinal permeability, metabolic endotoxemia, and associated disorders.
3,914 citations
TL;DR: Evidence from several disciplines is synthesized to support the contention that environmental factors acting during development should be accorded greater weight in models of disease causation.
Abstract: Many lines of evidence, including epidemiologic data and extensive clinical and experimental studies, indicate that early life events play a powerful role in influencing later susceptibility to certain chronic diseases. This review synthesizes evidence from several disciplines to support the contention that environmental factors acting during development should be accorded greater weight in models of disease causation.
3,290 citations
"Early nutritional environment: focu..." refers background in this paper
...The mother’s metabolism and physical state and adjustments to them comprise cues which result in adjustments in the foetus and infant (Gluckman et al., 2008)....
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...The relation between early nutrition and later metabolic disease is likely to be U-shaped, with an increased risk at both ends (Gluckman et al., 2008)....
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...These early adaptive responses will however incur costs particularly if the environment after birth deviates from the environment predicted during foetal life; restricted in utero nutrition followed by abundant nutrition in Western life-style increases susceptibility to metabolic disorders, including increased visceral fat deposition and insulin resistance (Gluckman et al., 2008; Ong et al., 2000)....
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