Microbes in the stomach can cause obesity and are infectious in mice

Yale researchers have released a study revealing new information about microbes in the stomach that trigger obesity and liver disease. According to the researchers, their most significant finding was that the altered intestinal environment that led to the conditions was infectious among a community of mice. “When healthy mice were co-housed with mice that had altered gut microbes, the healthy mice also developed a susceptibility for development of liver disease and obesity,” explains senior author Richard A. Flavell, professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. The proteins that cause the microbial imbalance are inflammasomes, which launch the inflammatory response of the immune system. “We found, in mice, that targeted antibiotic treatment brought the microbial composition back to normal, and thus eased the liver disease. Our hope is that our findings may eventually lead to a treatment for humans,” says Flavell.