Analysis of gut bacterial community composition in obese and lean Indian participants by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

Background: Human gut microbiota consists of variety of microbes which play vital role in the host development, physiology and homeostasis. Alteration in gut microbial composition or dysbiosis may lead to various diseases and lifestyle disorders including obesity. Since gut microbiota varies with differences in dietary habits and geographical locations therefore studies are required to look into the gut microbial diversity in Indian obese and lean subjects whose dietary habits and geography are different from the western world. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the microbial diversity in obese and lean Indian subjects. Materials and Methods: Subjects with similar dietary habits were enrolled in the study. Fecal samples were collected from each individuals and DNA was extracted. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to amplify the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (V1-V5 region) followed by GC clamp PCR (V3 region) for the same. PCR products were run on Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) system and DGGE sketches were analyzed in Gel Compar II version 6.6 software (Applied maths, Belgium) to assess the gut microbial diversity. Results and Conclusion: The results showed variation in the gut microbial profiles among obese and lean individuals and revealed more microbial diversity in the lean as compared to obese individuals. These observations indicate that BMI is a contributing factor for the difference in gut bacterial profile of obese and lean subjects and that support the role of gut microbiota in obesity.