Table 5.

Animal studies of the gut microbiota in obesity.

Reference	Authors	Year of Study	Animal Model	Study Findings (Microbiota Changes in Obesity vs. Control)
[103]	Sang et al.	2021	Obese (HFD-fed mice) with and without Ganoderma lucidum vs. control (low-fat diet)	Obese (HFD-fed mice) had increased Firmicutes: Bacteroidetes ratio in the gut microbiota vs. control. Reduced Bifidobacterium choerinum and Bacteroide chinchillae levels. Ganoderma lucidum treatment increased Allobacullum, Christensenella, and Bifidobacterium and inhibited body weight increase and inflammation due to HFD in association with increased SCFAs levels and GPR43 activation.
[104]	Beckmann et al.	2021	Diet-induced obesity in rats (with and without telmisartan) vs. control	Increased Firmicutes: Bacteroidetes ratio in diet-induced obesity vs. control. Increased Blautia, Allobaculum, and Parasutterella levels. Transfer of stool from telmisartan-treated mice to obese mice attenuated the increase in body weight due to dietary-induced obesity.
[105]	Bagarolli et al.	2017	HFD-fed mice with and without probiotics vs. control	HFD increased Bacteroidetes and decreased the levels of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria phyla. HFD increased intestinal permeability. Probiotics reduced fat pad and weight gain and improved insulin resistance and glucose tolerance.
[106]	Lam et al.	2012	Obese (HFD-fed mice) vs. control (chow diet-fed mice)	Reduced Lactobacillus genus leading to increased inflammatory cytokines. Increased fecal Oscillibacter genus. Lactobacillus and Oscillibacter levels correlated with transepithelial resistance of the proximal colon.
[102]	Hildebrandt et al.	2009	Control mice (13-week chow diet) or Restin-like molecule (RELM)-β knockout mice switched to HFD for 21 weeks	Reduced Bacteroidetes and increased Firmicutes and Proteobacteria phyla associated with switch to HFD. HFD (independent of obesity) was mainly responsible for the observed changes in microbiota.
[107]	Turnbaugh et al.	2006	Genetically obese mice (ob/ob) vs. control	Germ-free mice colonized with obese microbiota led to increased total body fat