Microflora transplantation instead of gastric bypass
Intestinal bacteria helped mice lose weight
(A new way to lose weight?). This conclusion was reached by scientists from Harvard in the course of their research, the results of which are published in the latest issue of Science Translational Medicine (Liou et al., Preserved Shifts in the Gut Microbiota Due to Gastric Bypass Reduce Host Weight and Adiposity).
During the experiments, the researchers studied the consequences of gastric bypass surgery, one of the most common methods of treating obesity. During the operation, the stomach is cut into two parts. A loop of the small intestine is sewn to the resulting "small stomach" with a volume of 20 to 50 milliliters after separation.
Due to a decrease in the volume of the stomach, the patient cannot eat a large amount of food at one time. Weight loss is also affected by the exclusion of part of the small intestine from the digestive process, as a result of which less nutrients are absorbed into the blood.
However, Harvard scientists have identified another factor involved in weight loss after surgery. It turned out that the composition of the intestinal microflora significantly changed in the operated mice. This was found out after genetic analysis of stool samples of animals undergoing bypass surgery.
For comparison, the scientists analyzed the feces of mice who underwent a fictitious or placebo operation, as well as rodents whose calorie intake was limited along with the fake operation.
To confirm the results, the researchers transplanted the microbiota of the intestinal tract of mice with a truncated stomach to sterile rodents. After that, the recipients began to lose weight quickly. "A simple transplantation of a community of microorganisms with a modified composition to mice led to a significant reduction in the amount of adipose tissue and rapid weight loss," explained Peter Turnbaugh, one of the lead authors of the work.
Scientists estimated the contribution of microorganisms to weight loss after surgery at 20 percent. The researchers hope in the course of further experiments to determine the mechanism of the influence of microorganisms on weight loss and, possibly, to propose a new, non-surgical method of weight loss.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru29.03.2013