Research

Mixed

Obese individuals with type 2 diabetes exhibit a distinct gut microbiota signature characterized by increased relative abundance of Firmicutes and decreased abundance of Verrucomicrobia, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria compared to healthy controls.

This research suggests that the specific gut bacteria in obese diabetic patients differ from healthy people, potentially contributing to insulin resistance. While this is an observational snapshot of a specific population, it implies that dietary changes (reducing high-carb/fat intake) and avoiding unnecessary antibiotics might help restore a healthier microbial balance, though this specific study does not test interventions.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
In majority of the obese-T2DM samples, the Firmicutes phyla constituted the highest proportion of the bacterial population compared to that in the healthy individuals, with relative abundance of 55.7% and 36.9%, respectively... Moreover, the relative abundance of Verrucomicrobia, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Elusimicrobia was less or even completely absent in obese-T2DM patients
Aftab Ahmad et al. · PLoS ONE · 2019

Why this rating

Observational study with small sample size (n=60) and low sequencing depth, limiting generalizability.

Source

Analysis of gut microbiota of obese individuals with type 2 diabetes and healthy individuals

Aftab Ahmad et al. · PLoS ONE · 2019

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0226372

cross_sectional · n=60Cited 192×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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