Link between faecal bacteria and body fat

Researchers at King's College London have found a new link between the diversity of bacteria in human poo - known as the human faecal microbiome - and levels of abdominal body fat. The research, published today in Genome Biology , also provides further evidence of possible genetic influences on obesity, through heritable bacteria found in the faecal microbiome. Scientists found that participants with a more diverse community of bacteria in their faeces had generally lower levels of visceral fat. Visceral fat is body fat that is stored in the abdominal cavity near a number of important internal organs and is linked with higher risks of metabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This type of fat has not previously been linked with the microbiome in humans. The study of 1,313 twins from the TwinsUK cohort used data from stool samples provided by participants as part of their annual sampling to extract DNA information about faecal microbes. Researchers compared this to six measures of obesity, including BMI and upper to lower body fat ratios, but found the strongest links with visceral fat.