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World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2021; 27(25): 3837-3850
Published online Jul 7, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i25.3837
Gut microbiota in obesity
Bing-Nan Liu, Xiao-Tong Liu, Zi-Han Liang, Ji-Hui Wang
Bing-Nan Liu, Xiao-Tong Liu, Zi-Han Liang, Ji-Hui Wang, School of Bioengineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, Liaoning Province, China
Ji-Hui Wang, Engineering Research Center of Health Food Design & Nutrition Regulation, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Liu BN wrote the paper; Liu XT, Liang ZH, and Wang JH collected the data; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by The Dalian Science and Technology Bureau, No. 2019RQ099; and the Department of Education of Liaoning Province, No. J2020097.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ji-Hui Wang, PhD, Professor, School of Bioengineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, No. 1 Qinggongyuan, Dalian 116034, Liaoning Province, China. wangjh_dlpu@163.com
Received: March 11, 2021
Peer-review started: March 11, 2021
First decision: April 5, 2021
Revised: April 14, 2021
Accepted: May 21, 2021
Article in press: May 21, 2021
Published online: July 7, 2021
Processing time: 116 Days and 19.1 Hours
Abstract

Obesity is a major global health problem determined by heredity and environment, and its incidence is increasing yearly. In recent years, increasing evidence linking obesity to the gut microbiota has been reported. Gut microbiota management has become a new method of obesity treatment. However, the complex interactions among genetics, environment, the gut microbiota, and obesity remain poorly understood. In this review, we summarize the characteristics of the gut microbiota in obesity, the mechanism of obesity induced by the gut microbiota, and the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the gut microbiota and obesity to provide support for understanding the complex relationship between obesity and microbiota. At the same time, the prospect of obesity research related to the gut microbiota is proposed.

Keywords: Gut microbiota; Obesity; Dysbiosis; Genetics; Ecology

Core Tip: Obesity is closely related to the gut microbiota. The study of the gut microbiome provides a basis for the reconstruction of the gut microbiota of obese patients. Here, we discuss the characteristics of the gut microbiota in obesity, the mechanism by which the gut microbiota induces obesity, and the relationships between genetic and environmental factors and the gut microbiota in obesity.