Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified 26 species of bacteria in the human gut microbiota that appear to be linked to obesity and related metabolic complications. These include insulin resistance, high blood sugar levels, increased blood pressure and high cholesterol, known collectively as "the metabolic syndrome," which significantly increases an individual's risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The results of the study, which analyzed data from the Old Order Amish in Lancaster County, PA, were published online on Aug. 15, 2012, in PLOS ONE, which is published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS).

The study is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Claire M. Fraser, PhD, professor, Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology and director of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) and Alan R. Shuldiner, MD, who is the John L. Whitehurst Professor of Medicine, associate dean for personalized medicine, and director of the Program in Personalized and Genomic Medicine. The collaboration is in connection with the NIH's Human Microbiome Project, which seeks to characterize microbial communities in the body.

In this video, Dr. Shuldiner explains their research.

Learn more: http://somvweb.som.umaryland.edu/absolutenm/templates/?a=2014