The Depletion of Carbohydrate Metabolic Genes in the Gut Microbiome Contributes to the Transition From Central Obesity to Type 2 Diabetes.

Ruikai Jia,Ye Chen,Yankai Jia,Huihui Wu,Yueqing Huang,Hua Ye,Qing Lv,Weizhi Chen,Li Ye,Min Huang,Xin Wu,Lichun Qian,Xiaoye Yan

doi:10.3389/fendo.2021.747646

Ruikai Jia, Ye Chen + Show 11 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2021.747646

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Abstract

Obesity, especially central obesity, is a strong risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, the mechanism underlying the progression from central obesity to T2D remains unknown. Therefore, we analyzed the gut microbial profiles of central obese individuals with or without T2D from a Chinese population. Here we reported both the microbial compositional and gene functional alterations during the progression from central obesity to T2D. Several opportunistic pathogens were enriched in obese T2D patients. We also characterized thousands of genes involved in sugar and amino acid metabolism whose abundance were significantly depleted in obese T2D group. Moreover, the abundance of those genes was negatively associated with plasma glycemia level and percentage of individuals with impaired plasma glucose status. Therefore, our study indicates that the abundance of those depleted genes can be used as a potential biomarker to identify central obese individuals with high risks of developing T2D.

Highlights

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are metabolic disorders with increasing incidence rates both worldwide [1] and within China [2]
In this study, to exclude the influences of those confounders, we performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic sequencing analysis of 60 central obesity nondiabetic participants and 183 central obesity patients who were newly diagnosed as T2D and medicine treatment-naïve
We aim to identify the potential compositional and/or functional features of the gut microbiota that contribute to the transition from central obesity to T2D

Summary

Introduction

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are metabolic disorders with increasing incidence rates both worldwide [1] and within China [2]. Central (intra-abdominal) obesity, is a well-established strong risk factor for T2D [3]. All obese individuals do not develop T2D [4, 5]. The causal factors driving or preventing the transition from obesity to T2D remain unknown. Numerous factors have been reported to play important roles in developing T2D, including genetic background and personal lifestyle, many of which have been linked to the gut microbiome [6, 7]. It is worthwhile to identify the distinguishing microbiome markers driving the transition from obesity to T2D. Such markers will contribute to a better understanding of the pathophysiological mechanism of progressing from obesity to T2D

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