Obesity, microbiota and immunomodulation

Sa？etak Overweight and obesity represent a growing medical and socioeconomic problem of modern society with numerous consequences on human health. Overweight individuals are at increased risk for developing chronic and degenerative conditions, from metabolic, cardiovascular and malignant diseases to increased susceptibility to infections and higher mortality rates. Apart from being an energy storage, fat tissue also has numerous endocrine and immune functions. Fat tissue can induce insulin resistance, development of metabolic syndrome and by secreting adipokines directly contribute to inflammatory processes which makes obesity a chronic inflammatory disease. Gut microbiota have an important role in obesity development since they perform important metabolic functions in nutrients digestion, absorption and metabolism. Also, specific development of gut epithelia and immune system are under direct influence of gut microbiota. By inducing metabolic endotoxemia microbiota contributes to the development of inflammatory processes in the organism. Along with pharmacological and surgical treatments, controlled weight loss in obesity can also be achieved by balanced diet and by modulating gut microbiota with probiotics and prebiotics