Thursday, January 09, 2014

"Enterotypes" not so obvious after all?

An exciting possibility was that we could determine what "enterotype" (collection of bacterial species in the gut) was associated with obesity and, if causative, treat obesity by remodeling that enterotype to resemble one that promoted lean individuals. This article suggests that if enterotypes exist at all, we're going to have to look harder for them.

"We find that inter-study variability in the taxonomic composition of stool microbiomes far exceeds differences between lean and obese individuals within studies. Our analyses further reveal a high degree of variability in stool microbiome composition and diversity across individuals."

Gotta love open access.  Article via @iddux.

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