Fungal Microorganisms in the Gut

What is it about?

The fungal community of the gastrointestinal tract is a recent issue, and its relationship with the development of obesity is scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the fungal cultivable fraction from the microbiota and to analyze the association with obesity. Samples were taken from 99 participants with normal weight, overweight, and obesity (n: 31, 33, and 33, respectively), and cultivated in selective medium. The cultivable yeasts were identified by MALDI-TOF MS. Anthropometric and biochemical measures were also evaluated. Eutrophic, overweight, and obese groups presented concentrations 1.6, 2.16 and 2.19 log10 CFU/g of yeasts. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the two identified phyla. At the genus level, Candida spp. showed a higher prevalence and ten different species were detected: Candida glabrata, C. orthopsilosis, C. lambica, C. kefyr, C. albicans, C. krusei, C. valida, C. parapsilosis, C. utilis, and C. humilis (71.72, 5.05, 21.21, 6.06, 29.29, 27.27, 8.08, 16.16, 1.01, and 2.02 % of relative abundance, respectively). The obese group presented a higher prevalence of C. albicans. Furthermore, C. albicans, C. kefyr and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa showed a high positive correlation with obesity, weight gain and fat mass, and showed a negative correlation with high density lipoprotein (HDL) and lean mass, parameters related with weight loss (P < 0.05).

Featured Image

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Fungal microorganisms in the gut

Perspectives