RELATION OF LACTOBACILLI ACIDOPHILUS TO OBESITY IN EGYPTIAN POPULATION

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Internal Medicine

2 Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, and Kafr El-Shiekh General Hospital, MOH

Abstract

Current considerations are existed about the sharing role of gut microbiota in the enhancement
of obesity and allied comorbidities. This observational case-control study assessed the possible
relation of Lactobacilli acidophilus to obesity in a sample of Egyptian population by real-time
PCR in stool. The study enrolled 20 healthy slim subjects and 40 subjects who had BMI >25
kg/m2. Routine laboratory analysis and identification of stool L. acidophilus by quantitative real
time PCR technique was performed for all enrolled subjects. Lactobacillus acidophilus was expressed
in 21/40 (52.5%) fecal samples of obese cases and 16/20 (80%) of fecal samples of nonobese
ones. In rest of samples in both groups, the expression was below the detection limit. The
results showed that the mean lactobacilli CT was expressed in obese cases (38.89±2.57) compared
to (36.08±4.63) in non-obese cases, with high significant difference (P =0.04). Lactobacillus
acidophilus was significantly lowered in obese Egyptian patients. The argument about
significance correlation between imbalance in gut microbiota and obesity is one of the hot topics
in medicine.

Keywords