The Role of Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Mediating Very Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet-Infant Gut Microbiota Relationships and Its Therapeutic Potential in Obesity

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 3702
• Main Author: Alsharairi, Naser A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 21.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Antibiotics; Appetite; Asthma; Babies; Bacteria; Body fat; Breastfeeding & lactation; Carbohydrates; Children; Diet; DNA methylation; Epigenetics; Fatty acids; Gene expression; High fat diet; Homeostasis; Hypocaloric diet; Immune system; infant gut microbiota; Infants; Influence; Intestinal microflora; Ketogenesis; Lactation; Lipids; Low carbohydrate diet; Metabolism; Metabolites; Microbiota; Milk; Nutrient deficiency; Obesity; Pregnancy; Proteins; Review; SCFAs; Species diversity; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; VLCKD; Weight control
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13113702

As the very low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) gains increased interest as a therapeutic approach for many diseases, little is known about its therapeutic use in childhood obesity. Indeed, the role of VLCKD during pregnancy and lactation in influencing short chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria and the potential mechanisms involved in the protective effects on obesity are still unclear. Infants are characterized by a diverse gut microbiota composition with higher abundance of SCFA-producing bacteria. Maternal VLCKD during pregnancy and lactation stimulates the growth of diverse species of SCFA-producing bacteria, which may induce epigenetic changes in infant obese gene expression and modulate adipose tissue inflammation in obesity. Therefore, this review aims to determine the mechanistic role of SCFAs in mediating VLCKD-infant gut microbiota relationships and its protective effects on obesity.