Intestinal bacteria may explain obesity

The microorganisms that live in your gut could explain one of the sources of obesity, says a new study from researchers at Washington University.

Bacteria live throughout the body, but some intestinal bacteria appear to be better than others at helping their hosts turn food into energy, say researchers Buck S. Samuel and Dr. Jeffrey I. Gordon.

They believe changing the mix of bacteria in the intestine could influence how much people weigh.

Bacteria and archaea, another kind of single-celled organism, are common in the human intestine. Researchers are discovering that together, they help their human hosts extract calories and nutrients from food.

"We know very little about who they are and what they do," said Dr. Martin J. Blaser, chair of medicine at New York University.

Samuel decided to investigate that question by inoculating identical mice with different microbes, or a combination of two of the single-celled organisms.

The researchers found mice whose guts were inoculated with just the bacterium Beta thetaiotaomicron (B. theta) could process rodent food better than mice that were given no bacteria.

A second group of mice were inoculated with a combination of B. theta and an archaeon called Methanobrevibacter smithii (M. smithii). Those rodents could extract many more calories from the same amount of food, but they stored the extra energy as excess fat.

•	Intestinal bacteria may explain obesity Intestinal microorganisms could explain one of the sources of obesity, new study says ABC News online, Wednesday, June 14, 2006 Byline: Associated Press

Story also ran in 58 others:  International News Service (Australia), The Westfall Weekly News (Canada), CTV.ca (Canada), Hinesberg Journal(Canada), CBS News, Knight Ridder Tribune News Service, Nature.com, Forbes.com, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Newsday (NY), Houston Chronicle, Kansas City Star, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Centre Daily Times (PA), WRAL.com (NC), LiveScience.com (NY), Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN), San Jose Mercury News (CA), Bradenton Herald (FL), Ely Times, Ocala.com (FL), Olberlin (KS), Brocktown News, Herald News Daily (ND), Worcester Telegram (MA), The State (SC), Times Daily (AL), Jackson News-Tribune (WY), Sky Valley Journal, The Kindred Times (UT), Times Picayune (LA), MLive.com (MI), Contra Costa Times (CA), Duluth News Tribune (MN), phillyBurbs.com (PA), The Ledger (FL), Fort Wayne News Sentinel (IN), Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (IN), Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (GA), Grand Forks Herald (ND), Myrtle Beach Sun News (SC), Wilkes Barre Times-Leader (PA), San Luis Obispo Tribune (CA), Biloxi Sun Herald (MS), Monterey County Herald (CA), Fort Worth Star Telegram (TX), Kentucky.com, Belleville News-Democrat (IL), The Olympian (WA), WFAA (TX), WJLA (DC), WTOP (DC), WJBK (Detroit), WDAF (Kansas City), KCTV (Kansas City), KTVI-TV (St. Louis) and KMOX-AM (St. Louis)