Obesity is an excessive fat accumulation that could lead to complications like metabolic syndrome. There are reports on gut microbiota and metabolic syndrome in relation to dietary, host genetics, and other environmental factors; however, it is necessary to explore the role of the gut microbiota metabolic pathways in populations like Mexicans, where the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome is high. This study identify alterations of the gut microbiota in a sample of healthy Mexican women (CO), women with obesity (OB), and women with obesity plus metabolic syndrome (OMS). We studied 67 women, characterizing their anthropometric and biochemical parameters along with their gut bacterial diversity by high-throughput DNA sequencing. Our results indicate that in OB or OMS women, Firmicutes was the most abundant bacterial phylum. We observed significant changes in abundances of bacteria belonging to the Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Erysipelotrichaceae families and significant enrichment of gut bacteria from 16 different taxa that might explain the observed metabolic alterations between the groups. Finally, the predicted functional metagenome of the gut microbiota found in each category shows differences in metabolic pathways related to lipid metabolism. We demonstrate that Mexican women have a particular bacterial gut microbiota characteristic of each phenotype. There are bacteria that potentially explain the observed metabolic differences between the groups, and gut bacteria in OMS and OB conditions carry more genes of metabolic pathways implicated in lipid metabolism.

Obesity is a metabolic disease characterized by low-grade inflammation and accompanied by dyslipidemia and up-regulation of other bioactive molecules, creating a predisposition to endothelial dysfunction and metabolic syndrome. We studied the association between gut microbiota diversity and endothelial dysfunction (EDF) markers in obese Mexican children and adolescents. We examined clinical data including metabolic factors and EDF markers in blood samples. Gut bacterial diversity was characterized by high-throughput sequencing of V3-16S rDNA libraries. Triglycerides, insulin, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistant (HOMA-IR), leptin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and EDF marker intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) were significantly higher in obese children and adolescents. Multivariate analysis showed statistically significant positive associations between vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) and Veillonellaceae, and between ICAM-1 and Ruminococcus in obese children. In obese adolescents, there was a statistically significant positive association between total cholesterol and Ruminococcus, and between ICAM-1 and Bacteroides. LEfSe analysis showed that the genus Lactobacillus and family Coriobacteriaceae were enriched in children, and genera Collinsella and Prevotella were enriched in obese adolescents. Obese children and adolescents had higher levels of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. These results suggest that obese Mexican children and adolescents had increased levels of CRP and a reduction of adiponectin, which causes higher expression of EDF markers, affecting endothelial function and associating with changes in the gut microbiota.

Genetic polymorphisms of antioxidant enzymes CAT, GPX, and SOD are involved in the etiology of obesity and its principal comorbidities. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of aforementioned SNPs over the output of several variables in people with obesity after a nutritional intervention. The study included 92 Mexican women, which received a dietary intervention by 3 months. Participants were genotyped and stratified into two groups: (1) carriers; mutated homozygous plus heterozygous (CR) and (2) homozygous wild type (WT). A comparison between CR and WT was done in clinical (CV), biochemical (BV), and anthropometric variables (AV), at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Participants (n = 92) showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) at the end of the nutritional intervention in several CV, BV, and AV. However, two kinds of responses were observed after genotyping participants: (A) CR and WT showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in several CV, BV, and AV for the SNPs 599C>T GPX1 (rs1050450), − 251A>G SOD1 (rs2070424), and − 262C>T CAT (rs1001179). (B) Only CR showed statistically changes (p < 0.05) in several CV, BV, and AV for the SNPs − 21A>T CAT (rs7943316) and 47C>T SOD2 (rs4880). The dietary intervention effect was statistically significantly between the polymorphisms of 47C>T SOD2 and BMI, SBP, TBARS, total cholesterol, and C-LCL (p < 0.05) and between the polymorphisms of − 21A>T CAT (rs7943316) and SBP, DBP, total cholesterol, and atherogenic index (p < 0.05). People with obesity display different response in several CV, BV, and AV after a nutritional intervention, depending on the antioxidant genetic background of SOD and CAT enzymes.

Objective: To compare the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines by whole blood samples stimulated with lipopolysaccharide from normotensive and preeclamptic women. Methods: The synthesis of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukyn-1β, interleukin-6 and interleukin-10 were assayed by immunosorbent assays in 56 and 50 preeclamptic and normotensive women, respectively. Results: Preeclamptic women showed a higher synthesis (p < 0.05) of interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 versus normotensive group. Interleukin-10 synthesis from samples of normotensive women showed a higher production versus preeclamptic group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Preeclamptic women showed an imbalance in the production of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines in comparison with normotensive women.

Obesity is a multifactorial disease resulting in excessive accumulation of fat. Worldwide, obesity is an important public health problem, affecting a large proportion of the world population. The tender cactus Opuntia ficus-indica, commonly known in Mexico as “nopal”, is widely distributed in this country, Latin America, South Africa, and the Mediterranean area. Nopal cladodes are commonly marketed in different forms as fresh, frozen, or pre-cooked, and used as fresh green vegetable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of nopal to improve the health condition of participants affected by obesity, in a physical and dietary intervention, through gut microbiota modification. These results were contrasted with the effect of nopal in the gut microbiota of normal weight participants. We describe the association among biochemical, anthropometric markers, and the gut microbiota diversity found in fecal samples of the obese and normal weight groups. The results presented in this work suggest that caloric restriction, addition of nopal to the diet and physical activity, promote changes in the gut microbiota in obese women, improving the host metabolism, as suggested by the correlation between some bacterial species with biochemical and anthropometrical parameters.