Profile of the gut microbiota of adults with obesity: a systematic review

Recently, relationship between gut microbiota composition and development of obesity has been pointed. However, the gut microbiota composition of individual with obesity is not known yet. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate differences in profile of gut microbiota between individuals with obesity and individuals with normal weight. A search performed on August 2019 in the databases Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Lilacs and gray literature using the terms: “microbiota”, “microbiome”, “obesity”, “obesity morbid”, and “humans”. Studies assessing the gut microbiota composition in adults with obesity and lean were included. Quality assessment was performed by Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Of the 12,496 studies, 32 were eligible and included in this review. Individuals with obesity have a greater Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Proteobacteria, Mollicutes, Lactobacillus (reuteri), and less Verrucomicrobia (Akkermansiamuciniphila), Faecalibacterium (prausnitzii), Bacteroidetes, Methanobrevibacter smithii, Lactobacillus plantarum and paracasei. In addition, some bacteria had positive correlation and others negative correlation with obesity. Individuals with obesity showed profile of gut microbiota different than individual lean. These results may help in advances of the diagnosis and treatment of obesity.