TABLE 3.
Lifestyle factors modulating gut microbiota composition and their relation with obesity
| Lifestyle factor | Study model | Mechanism of action | Effects in host related to obesity | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breastfeeding | Infants (12 mo) | ↓ Diversity and ↑ enrichment of Bifidobacteriaceae and Veillonellaceae | Protection against overweight | (70) |
| Infants (39–42 mo) | ↑ Bifidobacteria? | Reduction in obesity risk | (71) | |
| Undernutrition | Gnotobiotic mice, kwashiorkor and healthy children | Transplantation of gut microbiota from children with kwashiorkor | Less weight gain when mice harbored gut microbiota from malnourished children | (72) |
| Physical exercise | C57BL/6NTac male mice | ↑Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Clostridiumspp., and Allobaculumspp. in exercise group | Exercise manifests a unique microbiome independent of diet that reduced the intestinal inflammatory response with the high-fat diet, playing a role in gut integrity | (73) |
| Athletes, healthy and obese male humans | Male athletes had higher proportions of genus Akkermansia compared with high BMI controls | Lower inflammatory status and increase in gut microbial diversity in athletes | (74) | |
| Stress | Men and women | ↑ Firmicutes phylum, ↓ Bacteroides | Increase in IL-6 and intestinal permeability | (75) |
| Male Fischer rats | ↓ Relative abundance of Prevotella | Stress-evoked inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production | (76) | |
| Cesarean delivery | Children born vaginally and by cesarean delivery | ↓ Abundance of Bifidobacteria | Higher level of immunoglobulin-producing cells in their peripheral blood than in those born by vaginal delivery (IgA, IgG, and IgM) | (77) |
| Swiss Webster mice | ↓ Bacteroides, Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Clostridiales | Higher body mass gain after weaning | (78) | |
| Antibiotics use | Healthy children | ↓ Abundance of Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia | Increased risk of obesity | (79) |
| Female C57BL/6J mice | ↑ Firmicutes abundance | Increased adiposity and decreased caloric output in fecal samples | (80) | |
| Q fever endocarditis patients and healthy humans | ↓ Concentrations of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Lactobacillus | Abnormal weight gain in patients treated with doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine | (81) | |
| Sleep disturbances | ClockD19/D19 mutant and wild-type mice | ↑ Disorganization in tight junction protein occludin | Increased intestinal permeability | (82) |
| Cold exposure | Mice | ↓ Clostridiales and Porphyromonadaceae family members ↑ Abundance of Parabacteroides spp. | Increase in bile acid production which contributes to beneficial effects of beige and brown adipocytes on obesity-associated comorbidities | (83) |
↑, increased; ↓ , decreased.