Microbial Medicine: Prebiotic and Probiotic Functional Foods to Target Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome
1
Biomedical Technology and Cell Therapy Research Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 3775 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
2
Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, 3775 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
3
Biena Inc., 2955 Rue Cartier, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 1L4, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(8), 2890; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21082890
Received: 11 March 2020
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Revised: 9 April 2020
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Accepted: 17 April 2020
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Published: 21 April 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Foods for Obesity—from Mechanisms to Treatments)
Obesity has become a global epidemic and a public health crisis in the Western World, experiencing a threefold increase in prevalence since 1975. High-caloric diets and sedentary lifestyles have been identified as significant contributors to this widespread issue, although the role of genetic, social, and environmental factors in obesity’s pathogenesis remain incompletely understood. In recent years, much attention has been drawn to the contribution of the gut microbiota in the development of obesity. Indeed, research has shown that in contrast to their healthier counterparts the microbiomes of obese individuals are structurally and functionally distinct, strongly suggesting microbiome as a potential target for obesity therapeutics. In particular, pre and probiotics have emerged as effective and integrative means of modulating the microbiome, in order to reverse the microbial dysbiosis associated with an obese phenotype. The following review brings forth animal and human research supporting the myriad of mechanisms by which the microbiome affects obesity, as well as the strengths and limitations of probiotic or prebiotic supplementation for the prevention and treatment of obesity. Finally, we set forth a roadmap for the comprehensive development of functional food solutions in combatting obesity, to capitalize on the potential of pre/probiotic therapies in optimizing host health.
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Keywords:
microbiome; probiotics; prebiotics; obesity; metabolic syndrome; inflammation; bile acid (BA); short chain fatty acid (SCFA); metabolic syndrome (MetS)
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MDPI and ACS Style
Green, M.; Arora, K.; Prakash, S. Microbial Medicine: Prebiotic and Probiotic Functional Foods to Target Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 2890. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21082890
AMA Style
Green M, Arora K, Prakash S. Microbial Medicine: Prebiotic and Probiotic Functional Foods to Target Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(8):2890. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21082890
Chicago/Turabian StyleGreen, Miranda, Karan Arora, and Satya Prakash. 2020. "Microbial Medicine: Prebiotic and Probiotic Functional Foods to Target Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21, no. 8: 2890. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21082890
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