Floradip

Recent evidences showed that intestinal microflora is determinant in the control of body weight and adipose tissue size. We found that the lipopolysaccharide Gram negative bacterial extracts of the intestinal microflora are key physiological factors which contribute to the daily physiological development of adipose tissue size and endocrine/paracrine functions. The mechanism through which the endotoxin regulates adiposity is related to its inflammatory capacity. Interestingly, in situations of overt adipose development such as obesity the blood concentration of LPS i.e. metabolic endotoxemia is increased and is causally involved in the triggering of inflammation and hence adipose development. Data recently published by our group showed that the experimental manipulation of intestinal microflora impacts metabolic endotoxemia, inflammation, and adipose depot development. The molecular mechanisms are yet unknown but could be related to the regulation of enteric LPS permeability as described in our preliminary result section Therefore, the general goal is to determine through which physiological and cellular mechanisms the LPS from intestinal microflora controls the development of adiposity.