Association of calcium supplementation with fat excretion, changes in body weight, and gut enterobacteriales in obese, and non-obese mice

Obesity is a worldwide epidemiologic syndrome characterized by fat mass accumulation, mainly visceral fat. Current thinking considers a potential role of gut microbiota specially enterobacteriales on the development of obesity and its related comorbidities. Gut microbiota can influence energy extraction from food though alteration of intestinal permeability, lipid metabolism, immune response and endocrine functions and its profile has shown to differ between obese and lean subjects. Consumption of calcium may favor body weight reduction and glycaemic control, but its influence on microbiota is not well understood. This study with mice model focused on the changes of faecal microbiota count in four types of treatment groups and the changes in body weight based on diet and Ca supplement even after making some mice obese. The overall findings show possible correlations of the growth of gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis) and the absence of gram-positive bacteria (Lactobacillus spp.) as well as body weight fluctuation under the impact of high fat diet (HFD) and calcium supplementation. Approximately it is observed that HFD influences positively but calcium suppresses the growth of gut enterobacteriales associated with high faecal fat excretion. We conclude that dietary modification with calcium might interfere with gut microbiota, body weight and the beneficiary effects of calcium supplement on obesity can partly be explained by associated high faecal fat excretion.