How toxins can drive weight gain?

A new study suggest that Ffragments of bacteria leaking into the body from the gut are damaging fat cells and driving weight gain. [1]
Scientists at Nottingham Trent University have found that these microbe fragments, known as endotoxins, are able to enter the blood stream and directly affect how well fat cells function.

The researchers said their findings, recently published in the journal BMC medicine, help shed light on how endotoxins may drive obesity and associated disease such as type 2 diabetes.

Endotoxins are toxic substances present inside bacterial cell walls and released when it ruptures or disintegrates.

In a healthy gut, endotoxins are part of the lifecycle of microbes that play a key role in overall human health.

In obese people, the gut barrier is more fragile and can become leaky, allowing endotoxins into the blood and, consequently, other parts of the body.

For the study, the researchers assessed 156 people, 63 of whom were classed as obese.
Their aim was to understand how endotoxins played a role in increasing the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Harmful bacteria and less healthy gut flora has also been associated with higher body mass index (BMI) [2]



[1] https://www.standard.co.uk/topic/nottingham-trent-university