The role of diet and the gut microbiota in the obesity-colorectal cancer link

Obesity is positively associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Diet not only contributes to obesity, but also strongly influences the gut microbiota, a factor that is thought to independently affect CRC. To isolate the role of obesity-associated gut microbiota in CRC and to assess the impact of diet composition on this relationship, we transplanted the gut microbiota from donor mice that developed obesity or remained lean on a high-fat diet (HFD), Western diet (WD), or low-fat diet (LFD) into antibiotic-treated recipient mice that subsequently received azoxymethane to induce CRC.