Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes Ratio

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Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are two major phyla of the domain Bacteria and dominant in human gut microbiota. The Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (F/B ) has been extensively examined for human and mouse gut microbiota. It has been shown by multiple studies that the F/B ratio is correlated with obesity and other diseases.

• Data obtained from animal models revealed consistent differences in the two major bacterial phyla with a significant increase of the Firmicutes and decrease of the Bacteroidetes levels in ob/ob compared to wild-type mice despite a similarity in their diet and activity levels (Ley et al. 2005).
• Increased ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes was found in the gut microbiota in the human population with obesity (Lay et al., 2006).
• For the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, significant differences between infants and adults (0.4 and 10.9, respectively) and between adults and elderly (10.9 and 0.6, respectively). Notably, no significant differences were found between infants and elderly. In conclusion, F/B ratio in adults was much higher than those of infants and elderly (Mariat et al., 2009).
• The obtained data indicate that obese persons in the Ukraine adult population have a significantly higher level of Firmicutes and lower level of Bacteroidetes compared to normal-weight and lean adults (Koliada et al. 2017).