The effect of estradiol and high fat diet on the female mouse gut microbiota

Post-menopausal women have an increased risk of developing metabolic disorders, such as obesity and type two diabetes. Estradiol, a female sex hormone, which declines in menopausal and postmenopausal women, protects against diet-induced obesity in women and female mice. However, the mechanisms by which estradiol prevents diet-induced obesity are not well known. Diet has been shown to shape the gut microbiome, and both diet and the gut microbiome have been linked to weight gain and obesity. In this study, fecal samples were collected from female mice as they ate a standard diet and then switched to a high fat diet. All endogenous sources of estradiol were removed from the mice and half the mice were given estradiol. From bacterial DNA in the fecal samples, the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced on the MiSeq Illumina platform.