Investigation of the Microbiota Changes in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: the Potential Role of Food Supplements

INTRODUCTION. Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are multifactorial pathology now widespread throughout the world. Human body harbor a diverse community of microbes that together compose the human microbiota. Recent studies suggest that human microbiota can modulate the pathophysiology of children obesity. Several microbes can ferment dietary nutrients, such as prebiotics, influencing human health. Moreover, the administration of probiotics, selected live microbes, and Mediterranean Diet (MD) seems to be related to improvements in human health conditions by modulating the microbiota composition. This relationship of microbiota in causing obesity needs exploration. We present three different projects (ZIMBA-prebiotic; GOOD_DAY-MD; DM-Prevent-Intestinimonas butyriciproducens GL3) on the microbiota analysis, to assess if changes in gut microbiota composition can be related to outcomes of human metabolic diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Auxological, metabolic, nutritional parameters, and stool samples were collected. NGS analysis of 16S rDNA was performed from 0.25 g of stool. Statistical analyses were performed using MicrobiomeAnalyst and R software. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. The prebiotic intake supplemented with Zn induced a significant increase in Firmicutes, Bifidobacterium sp., Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, unclassified Lacnospiraceae, Ruminococcus and Dorea longicatena, and decrease in Bacteroides vulgatus and Parabacteroides distasonis in respect to baseline. We identified several bacterial groups that increase such as P.merdae, Clostridium, Dialister, Lachnospira incertae sedis, and some others that decrease like P. distasonis, and B. fragilis. The probiotic containing Intestinimonas butyriciproducens GL3 was able to reverse pre-diabetes condition, by improving insulin sensitivity and inflammation, in pre-diabetic obese adults, with increase in butyrate-producing bacteria. These findings are important for clustering patients and studying tailored dietary programs.