Association between body mass index and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in an adult Ukrainian population

Alexander Koliada,Sergiy Tkach,Kostiantyn Puchkov,Lyudmila Sineok,Alexander Vaiserman,Vladislav Moseiko,Maryana Romanenko,Vyacheslav Perederiy,Oleh Lushchak,Ganna Syzenko,Liudmyla Budovska,Andriy Dorofeyev,Yuriy Gavalko

doi:10.1186/s12866-017-1027-1

Abstract

BackgroundMetagenomic studies confirm that obesity is associated with a composition of gut microbiota. There are some controversies, however, about the composition of gut microbial communities in obese individuals in different populations. To examine the association between body mass index and microbiota composition in Ukrainian population, fecal concentrations of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio were analyzed in 61 adult individuals.ResultsThe relative abundance of Actinobacteria was small (5–7%) and comparable in different BMI categories. The content of Firmicutes was gradually increased while the content of Bacteroidetes was decreased with increasing body mass index (BMI). The F/B ratio also raised with increasing BMI. In an unadjusted logistic regression model, F/B ratio was significantly associated with BMI (OR = 1.23, 95% CI 1,09–1,38). This association continued to be significant after adjusting for confounders such as age, sex, tobacco smoking and physical activity (OR = 1.33, 95% CI 1,11–1,60).ConclusionsThe obtained data indicate that obese persons in Ukraine adult population have a significantly higher level of Firmicutes and lower level of Bacteroidetes compared to normal-weight and lean adults.

Highlights

Metagenomic studies confirm that obesity is associated with a composition of gut microbiota
The content of Firmicutes was gradually increased, while the content of Bacteroidetes was decreased with increasing body mass index (BMI); the F/B ratio raised with increasing BMI (Table 2, Figs. 1 and Fig. 2)
They could be confounding factors and affect the association between F/B ratio and BMI. The adjustment for these factors as well as for smoking and physical activity levels was performed by multivariate logistic regression model

Summary

Introduction

Metagenomic studies confirm that obesity is associated with a composition of gut microbiota. There are: (1) increased caloric intake from indigestible polysaccharides, Koliada et al BMC Microbiology (2017) 17:120 increasingly considered as a “metabolic organ” greatly affecting the organism’s metabolism [11]. According to this point of view, there is plausible reason to suppose that differences in gut microbiota may be linked to energy homeostasis, predicting that obese and lean individuals have distinct microbiota composition, with measurable difference in the ability to extract energy from the food and to store those energy as the fat [12]

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Results

Conclusion