上海交大教授逮住“肥胖细菌” （ZT）

　　上海交大赵立平教授领导的一项实验证明，一种叫阴沟肠杆菌的肠道细菌是造成肥胖的直接元凶之一。这一成果发表在12月13日出版的国际微生物生态学领域的顶级学术期刊ISME Journal上，这是国际上首次证明肠道细菌与肥胖之间具有直接因果关系。
　　临床研究发现，阴沟肠杆菌在一个体重达175千克的肥胖患者肠道里过度生长，占到总菌量的三分之一。当给患者用一种营养配方进行干预以后，这种病菌数量很快下降到检测不出来的水平，患者的体重也随即在近半年里下降了51.4千克，高血糖、高血压和高血脂等症状也都消失了。而将分离出来的细菌接种到本身不胖的无菌小鼠体内，小鼠患上了严重的肥胖症，并出现了糖尿病的早期症状——胰岛素抵抗。
　　人体肠道里生活着大约1000种细菌，总重量大约有1.5千克，如此庞大的肠道菌群是人体衰老和得病的主要原因。赵立平教授实验室找到的阴沟肠杆菌可以让本来不胖的小鼠发展出严重的肥胖症，并引起胰岛素抵抗，沿着这个方向深入，有望发展出以肠道菌群为靶点、预防和治疗肥胖、糖尿病的新方法。

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有关英文报道

University professor connects intestinal bacteria, obesity
Global Times | 2012-12-16 23:35:08
By Shen Shushu

A Shanghai Jiao Tong University professor published a study in an internationally recognized science journal that found a direct link between a kind of intestinal bacterium and obesity in humans, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.

It marks the first time a scientist has shown a causal relationship between the two, according to the report.

Zhao Liping, deputy dean of the School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and his research team got their study published in the December 13 issue of The ISME Journal, a journal of microbial ecology.

Zhao found out that a particular kind of intestinal bacteria called enterobacter cloacae could cause obesity because its extracted endotoxin activates a gene that helps generate fat and deactivates a gene that causes fat to be consumed, according to the report.

In the study, Zhao found that by reducing the enterobacter cloacae in a subject by changing a subject's diet, he could stimulate weight loss. One volunteer weighing 174.8 kilograms lost 51.4 kilograms and recovered from hyperglycemia and hypertension after going on a diet of whole grains, traditional Chinese medicinal foods and prebiotics for 23 weeks, according to the ISME article.

Zhao personal experience led him to the research after scientists discovered a connection between obesity and gut microbiota in mice, according to an article in the June 6 issue of Science magazine. Curious if such a link existed in humans, Zhao went on a diet of fermented prebiotic foods - Chinese yams and bitter melon - and whole grains to see if he could alter the bacterial ecology of his digestive system. Over the course his personal experiment, during which he tracked the microbes in his gut, he lost 20 kilograms in two years. The results convinced him to begin to study intestinal bacteria in humans.