Essential role of small bowel microbiota in regulating host digestive and absorptive adaptive responses to dietary lipids

Because germ-free (GF) mice are resistant to diet-induced obesity and malabsorb fat, we examined whether small bowel microbiota directly modulate host processes involved in lipid digestion and absorption. We show that jejunal small bowel microbes are essential for host adaptation to dietary lipid changes by regulating gut epithelial processes involved in their digestion and absorption. Additionally, GF mice conventionalized with high-fat diet-induced jejunal microbiota, exhibited increased lipid absorption even when fed low-fat diet.