Obesity changes the human gut mycobiome

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 14600
• Main Authors: Mar Rodríguez, M., Pérez, Daniel, Javier Chaves, Felipe, Esteve, Eduardo, Marin-Garcia, Pablo, Xifra, Gemma, Vendrell, Joan, Jové, Mariona, Pamplona, Reinald, Ricart, Wifredo, Portero-Otin, Manuel, Chacón, Matilde R., Fernández Real, José Manuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.10.2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13/56; 631/326/193; 692/163/2743; Abundance; Adipose Tissue - metabolism; Adipose Tissue - pathology; Adult; Aspergillus - classification; Aspergillus - genetics; Aspergillus - growth & development; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Body weight loss; Candida - classification; Candida - genetics; Candida - growth & development; Caproates - blood; Case-Control Studies; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL - blood; Digestive system; Diseases; DNA, Intergenic - genetics; Fasting; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - genetics; Gastrointestinal tract; Glutamates - blood; Glutamic acid; High density lipoprotein; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Intestine; Intestines; Intestines - microbiology; Intestines - pathology; Intestins; Malalties; Male; Metabolites; Microbiologia; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Mucor - classification; Mucor - genetics; Mucor - growth & development; multidisciplinary; Mycological Typing Techniques; N-Acetyl-L-glutamic acid; Obesity; Obesity - microbiology; Obesity - pathology; Overweight persons; Palmitic Acids - blood; Penicillium - classification; Penicillium - genetics; Penicillium - growth & development; Persones obeses; Relative abundance; Saccharomyces - classification; Saccharomyces - genetics; Saccharomyces - growth & development; Science; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Triglycerides; Triglycerides - blood; Weight control
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep14600

The human intestine is home to a diverse range of bacterial and fungal species, forming an ecological community that contributes to normal physiology and disease susceptibility. Here, the fungal microbiota (mycobiome) in obese and non-obese subjects was characterized using Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS)-based sequencing. The results demonstrate that obese patients could be discriminated by their specific fungal composition, which also distinguished metabolically “healthy” from “unhealthy” obesity. Clusters according to genus abundance co-segregated with body fatness, fasting triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol. A preliminary link to metabolites such as hexadecanedioic acid, caproic acid and N-acetyl-L-glutamic acid was also found. Mucor racemosus and M. fuscus were the species more represented in non-obese subjects compared to obese counterparts. Interestingly, the decreased relative abundance of the Mucor genus in obese subjects was reversible upon weight loss. Collectively, these findings suggest that manipulation of gut mycobiome communities might be a novel target in the treatment of obesity.