Abstract
The small intestinal microbiome (SIM) is colonized by a variety of bacteria, archaea, viruses, and eukarya which contribute to the overall health of the human host. Commensal bacteria of the small intestine are crucial suppliers of essential nutrients, aid in the metabolism of indigestible carbohydrates, provide defenses against pathogenic bacteria, and are critical components of the mucosal architecture. Initial work in this field focused on characterization using stool as a surrogate for the whole gut microbiome due to ease and frequency of collection. Most of the literature continues to use stool as the vehicle for gut microbial analysis. However, studying only stool is limited due to significant variances of structure, environment, and ecology which exist along the length of the gastrointestinal tract. These variances are significant enough that studying only stool does not reflect the microbial composition of the small intestine, requiring a new approach to accurately characterize the relationship between the SIM and host physiology. Our most recent work characterizes the SIM in people with normal and elevated body weights (overweight and obesity); we identified key genera associated with elevated body weight, as well as escalation factors, de-escalation factors, and associated predicted pathways that may represent potential targets for future therapeutics.
Keywords
Metabolism, Obesity, Small bowel aspirates, Small intestinal microbiome