For a long time, gut microbes have been known to live in vast communities within the digestive system, breaking down complex carbohydrates. However, a new study at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine has shown that these gut microbes not only break down the food, but also allow the organism to obtain more calories than normal from the same amount of food as a result of being able to increase the amount of dietary fats being absorbed in the intestine.
Scientists at the university decided to show the role of gut microbes in dietary fat metabolism by conducting their experiment on zebrafish, which, when young, are optically transparent. They then fed the fish with fatty acids, which they dyed with florescent dye. This allowed them to observe in different conditions (the absence and lack of gut microbes), the absorption and movement of the fatty acids. This experiment clearly showed how the the gut microbes absorbed the dietary fats and resulted in extra calories from the same amount of food.
Further research showed these gut microbes to be a group of bacteria, called Firmicutes, a key item in increasing fat absorption. The amount of Firmicutes present in an organism has since then been found to be linked to the amount of food consumed by the organism; the less food consumed, the less Firmicutes are present. This concept is shown in humans, as scientists have found Firmicutes to be present in generally large amounts in obese individuals.
In the future, scientists and doctors will be able to use this new information in health care to solve human problems such as obesity and other disorders.
This article is relevant to our current studies because overall, it discusses microbes. Specifically, it talks about a group of bacteria called Firmicutes and the effects they have on human fat absorption and calorie-intake. This is also an example of a symbiotic relationship; with the human being the host and the Firmicutes bacteria living within of the human digestive system, absorbing the dietary fats in the intestine while continuing to break down the complex carbohydrates of food.
September 12, 2012 - Research by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120912125114.htm
Do these microbes cause organisms to obtain a significant amount of extra calories?
ReplyDeleteThe amount of extra calories per meal is not super significant, but is significant enough that if the extra calories begin piling up over time, an over weight issue will develop.
DeleteDo the microbes directly help calorie absorption or do they do it indirectly (chemical or something)?
ReplyDeleteIndirectly - the gut microbes work by aiding with the breaking down of carbohydrates as well as promoting the absorption of fats. Gut microbes do not directly cause the body to increase absorption. Instead, they help trigger other microbes to work at absorbing a greater number of calories.
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