Brief Communications
Nature 444, 1022-1023 (21 December 2006) | doi:10.1038/4441022a; Received 8 October 2006; Accepted 10 November 2006; Published online 21 December 2006
Microbial ecology: Human gut microbes associated with obesity
Ruth E. Ley1, Peter J. Turnbaugh1, Samuel Klein1 & Jeffrey I. Gordon1
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.
- Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA
Correspondence to: Jeffrey I. Gordon1 Email: jgordon@wustl.ed
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