An international team of researchers has identified specific bacteria in the gut that are associated with both mice and humans developing an addiction to food that can lead to obesity. They have also identified bacteria that play a beneficial role in preventing food addiction. The research is presented today (Thursday) at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2024 and is published simultaneously in the journal Gut .
Professor Elena Martín-García, from the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology-NeuroPhar in the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, told the FENS Forum: "A number of factors contribute to food addiction, which is characterized by loss of control over food intake and is associated with obesity, other eating disorders and alterations in the composition of bacteria in the gut – the gut microbiome. Until now, the mechanisms underlying this behavioral disorder were largely unknown." Speaking before the FENS Forum, Professor Rafael Maldonado, who leads the Laboratory, said: "These results from our study may allow us to identify new biomarkers for food addiction and, most importantly, to evaluate whether the beneficial bacteria could be used as potential new treatments for this obesity-related behavior, which, at present, lacks any effective therapeutic approaches.
Potential new treatments could involve using beneficial bacteria and dietary supplementation." Prof. Martín-García used the Y.