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0:05
One of the most
effective cures for obesity
or means of tackling obesity
is surgical intervention.
Unfortunately, a low diet are
effective for some individuals,
the statistics show
that most individuals
achieve only a temporary effect
in terms of
sustained weight loss
with dietary intervention.
Gastric bypass on the other hand
has been shown to have
a much longer lasting effect.
There are several
studies that have looked
at the effect of gastric
bypass on the stomach
and intestine microbiota.
We know that gastric
bypass achieves
substantial and
significant weight loss.
We also know that
the microbiota change
after gastric bypass surgery.
So now we really want to
look at the relationship
between the gut bacteria,
the metabolic profile,
and see if we can look
at the mechanism
by which gastric bypass surgery
might be achieving weight loss.
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The first port of call
was a surgical model
of gastric bypass.
And this was the Roux-en-Y
gastric bypass,
which is used in the U.K.,
for morbidly obese individuals.
In the U.K., you'd have to
have a BMI of greater than 40
or have some
significant comorbidities
at a lower BMI
to be eligible for
this type of surgery.
We know that in many cases,
as well as
achieving weight loss,
the gastric bypass
surgery also cures
or resolves type 2 diabetes
and this happens in about
80 percent of the cases.
In other countries
around the world,
they use gastric bypass surgery
almost cosmetically,
so if you're prepared to pay,
then you can go
and get gastric bypass surgery.
So it's becoming increasingly
prevalent all over the world,
and we really
do need to understand
what are the mechanisms
by which the weight loss occurs
and what are
the knock-on effects
metabolically on the individual.
So here we had
two groups of rats,
one was sham-operated in
order to induce surgical stress
as a control.
The other group underwent
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass,
18 animals per group,
and we looked at them
pre-operatively and up to
8 weeks post-operation.
We took urine, serum,
and feces from these animals
and then conducted
both metabolic profiling
and also looked at
the 454 sequencing
to establish
the microbial composition.
