Gut microbiota, obesity and bariatric surgery: Current knowledge and future perspectives

Background: There is an urgent need for a better understanding and management of obesity and obesity-associated diseases. It is known that obesity is associated with structural and functional changes in the microbiome. Methods: The purpose of this review is to present current evidence from animal and human studies, demonstrating the effects and the potential efficacy of microbiota modulation in improving obesity and associated metabolic dysfunctions. Results: This review discusses possible mechanisms linking gut microbiota dysbiosis and obesity, since there is a dual interaction between the two of them. Furthermore, comments on bariatric surgery, as a favourable model to understand the underlying metabolic and inflammatory effects, as well as its association with changes in the composition of the gut microbiota, are included. Also, a possible impact of anti-obesity drugs and the novel antidiabetic drugs on the gut microbiota has been briefly discussed. Conclusion: More research is needed to better understand here discussed the association between microbiota modulation and obesity. It is expected that research in this field, in the following years, will lead to a personalized therapeutic approach considering the patient’s microbiome, and also give rise to the discovery of new drugs and/or the combination therapies for the management of obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities.