Abstract
Gut microbiota is essential for the development of obesity and related comorbidities. However, studies describing the association between specific bacteria and obesity or weight loss reported discordant results. The present observational study, conducted within the frame of the PREDIMED-Plus clinical trial, aims to assess the association between fecal microbiota, body composition and weight loss, in response to a 12-month lifestyle intervention in a subsample of 372 individuals (age 55–75) with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome. Participants were stratified by tertiles of baseline body mass index (BMI) and changes in body weight after 12-month intervention. General assessments, anthropometry and biochemical measurements, and stool samples were collected. 16S amplicon sequencing was performed on bacterial DNA extracted from stool samples and microbiota analyzed. Differential abundance analysis showed an enrichment of Prevotella 9, Lachnospiraceae UCG-001 and Bacteroides, associated with a higher weight loss after 12-month of follow-up, whereas in the cross-sectional analysis, Prevotella 2 and Bacteroides were enriched in the lowest tertile of baseline BMI. Our findings suggest that fecal microbiota plays an important role in the control of body weight, supporting specific genera as potential target in personalized nutrition for obesity management. A more in-depth taxonomic identification method and the need of metabolic information encourages to further investigation.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity are considered a worldwide public health problem which has rapidly increased up to reach global epidemic proportions [1]
Our findings support the hypothesis that specific components of fecal microbiota may be involved in the control of body weight
A drastic reduction in Bacteroidetes and a proportional increase in Firmicutes was described in genetically obese mice compared to lean and wild type animals fed with the same diet, highlighting the gut microbiota’s contribution to obesity [21]
Summary
Overweight and obesity are considered a worldwide public health problem which has rapidly increased up to reach global epidemic proportions [1]. In the last few years, gut microbiota has been highlighted as an important factor related to obesity and its associated comorbidities [4]. The gut microbiota is able to predict post-dieting weight regain in obese mice [6]. Bacteroidetes are commonly less abundant in people with obesity, with this abundance increasing along with weightloss [7], whereas Firmicutes phylum as some of their genera as Lactobacillus and Clostridium have been associated to metabolic dysregulations related to obesity [8], suggesting that specific bacteria could be beneficial or detrimental to obesity. Other trials of shorter duration shown that different relative abundance of specific genera (i.e., Phascolarctobacterium, Dialister, Prevotella-to-Bacteroidetes ratio) were associated with a higher or lower weight loss [11,12]
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