Modification of Gut Microbiota in the Treatment of Insulin Resistance: a Personalized Approach

Gut microbiota may play a key role in many metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Consumption of high-fat/high-sugar western diet seem to alter human resident microbiota towards reduced genetic diversity and to influence its metabolic activity towards enhanced energy extraction. Plant-based diets are effective in the treatment of T2D but it is not clear whether their effect results solely from diet composition or whether it is mediated, at least partly, by different microbiota and its metabolic activity. One possible therapeutic approach is replacement of "pro-diabetic" microbiota with its "healthy" variant but what the "healthy" microbiota is and under which conditions this microbiota could stay stable and functional is not known. The aim of the proposed study is to identify possible metagenome/metabolome characteristics in different human cohorts (T2D vs vegans), to assess the stability of vegan microbiota in T2D-like environment and to evaluate the possibility to influence human T2D microbiota/metabolome towards more protective composition by dietary intervention.