1. Two independent facts from the experiment: A pathogen that causes obesity (in mice) seems to be active in some obese humans.
2. Severely restricted diet seems to powerfully reduce the population of this organism.
I doubt that these facts are unrelated. It's classic host-parasite behavior. The pathogen depends on high calorie intake in its host, and therefore engineers that behavior (somehow).
Further there is no reason to make the leap that the only or best way to counter this pathogen is through diet. It's not impossible that a targeted antibiotic that eliminates this pathogen would have an effect on the body composition of the host.
Very interesting observation re parasitic behavior. I suspect that with modern food processing techniques to make food relentlessly cheaper, we have unwittingly enhanced the food supply for the parasite.
It's not really unwitting. Anything that increases nutrition for humans necessarily increases the food supply for creatures that prey on humans. Similarly, boosting the rabbit population enhances the food supply for creatures that prey on rabbits.
They could probably make a targeted antibiotic, but gut bacteria are something not very well understood yet, and it's a highly complex ecosystem (some would say more complex than our own cells) that differs significantly from person to person.
they have done studies though to see if doing a guy bacteria transplant from a healthy person to an obese person would change their weight, I believe there wasn't any difference found for weight loss but that there was some hope in using it as a treatment for diabetes. I'd have to look it up.
This particular study though I wonder if it was the calorie restriction, the weight loss or the content of the diet that caused the changes to happen.
1. Two independent facts from the experiment: A pathogen that causes obesity (in mice) seems to be active in some obese humans.
2. Severely restricted diet seems to powerfully reduce the population of this organism.
I doubt that these facts are unrelated. It's classic host-parasite behavior. The pathogen depends on high calorie intake in its host, and therefore engineers that behavior (somehow).
Further there is no reason to make the leap that the only or best way to counter this pathogen is through diet. It's not impossible that a targeted antibiotic that eliminates this pathogen would have an effect on the body composition of the host.