June 26, 2024

expert reaction to Gut microbiota signatures of vulnerability to food addiction in mice and humans

A study published in Gut looks at gut bacteria and compulsive eating and obesity.

Dr Harriët Schellekens, Funded Investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland, and Senior Lecturer in the department of Anatomy & Neuroscience, University College Cork.

“While “food addiction” is still a controversial concept, it is generally accepted that the compulsive intake of highly palatable-caloric foods, can lead to eating disorders and promote obesity. This study has identified a specific microbiota signature associated with features of food addiction. The abundance of the Blautia genus decreases as motivation and compulsive eating increases in both mice and humans. Importantly, supplementation with Blautia-promoting pre and probiotics lowers the number of mice classified as “food addicted”. This study adds important evidence demonstrating that gut microbiota can indeed influence host eating behavior. This gives renewed confidence for future mechanistic and translational studies investigating gut microbiota in the context of eating disorders and their metabolic consequences.”

‘Gut microbiota signatures of vulnerability to food addiction in mice and humans’ by Samulėnaitė S, et al was published in Gut at 23:01 Irish time on 26^th June 2024. 

DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2023-331445

Declared interests

No reply to our request for DOIs was received.