Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2012) 29 P558

ICEECE2012 Poster Presentations Diabetes (248 abstracts)

Alterations in fecal lactobacillus and bifidobacterium species are associated with differences in cholesterol metabolism in type 2 diabetic patients

H Hui 1, , D Cai 1 , K Lê 1, , Y Li 1 , X Xu 1 , T Liu 1 , W Yang 1, , F He 1, , X Zhao 1, , K Su 1, , S Pandol 1, & V Go 1,


1Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China; 2Dongguan SMU Metabolic Medcine Inc, Dongguan, China; 3Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland; 4VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Los Angeles, California, USA; 5David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA.


Background: Type 2 diabetic (T2D) patients have alterations in the gut microbiota composition, compared to healthy individuals. Such alterations may play a role in the pathogenesis of T2D and insulin resistance. Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus are among the most predominant bacteria found in human gut. They can also easily be added in probiotic preparations, thus making them ideal agents for therapeutic interventions. In this study, we aimed to determine if there were alterations in a selected group of fecal Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species in T2D patients compared to a control group of patients, and to determine if there were metabolic measures associated with any of bacterial species in the T2D patients.

Methods: Fifty patients with T2D and thirty control individuals of similar BMI were recruited from Southern China. The bacteria species were chosen because of their relevance to probiotic preparations; their fecal amount was measured by real-time quantitative PCR. Insulin sensitivity was measured by an OGTT.

Results: T2D patients had significantly (P<0.05) more total Lactobacillus (+17%), L. bugaricus (+13%), L. Rahmnosum (+37%) and L. acidophilus (+17%). In contrast, they had less amounts of total Bifidobacterium (−7%) and B. adolescentis (−12%) (P<0.05 both). Cluster analysis showed that gut microbiota pattern of T2D patients is characterized by greater number of L. Rhamnosus and L. Acidophillus, together with lesser number of B. adolescentis (P<0.05). Several of these bacteria were significantly associated with total cholesterol levels (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The gut microflora in T2D patients is characterized by greater numbers of Lactobacillus and lesser numbers of Bifidobacterium species. The changes are associated with cholesterol levels suggesting that they play a role in influencing cholesterol metabolism in T2D patients.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however funding details unavailable.

Volume 29

15th International & 14th European Congress of Endocrinology

European Society of Endocrinology 

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