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Obesity is associated with a distinct brain-gut microbiome signature that connects Prevotella and Bacteroides to the brain’s reward center

Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The prevalence of obesity has risen to its highest values over the last two decades. While many studies have either shown brain or microbiome connections to obesity, few have attempted to analyze the brain-gut-microbiome relationship in a large cohort adjusting for cofounders. Therefore, we aim to explore the connection of the brain-gut-microbiome axis to obesity controlling for such cofounders as sex, race, and diet. Whole brain resting state functional MRI was acquired, and connectivity and brain network properties were calculated. Fecal samples were obtained from 287 obese and non-obese participants (males n = 99, females n = 198) for 16s rRNA profiling and fecal metabolites, along with a validated dietary questionnaire. Obesity was associated with alterations in the brain’s reward network (nucleus accumbens, brainstem). Microbial diversity (p = .03) and composition (p = .03) differed by obesity independent of sex, race, or diet. Obesity was associated with an increase in Prevotella/Bacteroides (P/B) ratio and a decrease in fecal tryptophan (p = .02). P/B ratio was positively correlated to nucleus accumbens centrality (p = .03) and negatively correlated to fecal tryptophan (p = .004). Being Hispanic, eating a standard American diet, having a high Prevotella/Bacteroides ratio, and a high nucleus accumbens centrality were all independent risk factors for obesity. There are obesity-related signatures in the BGM-axis independent of sex, race, and diet. Race, diet, P/B ratio and increased nucleus accumbens centrality were independent risk factors for obesity. P/B ratio was inversely related to fecal tryptophan, a metabolite related to serotonin biosynthesis, and positively related to nucleus accumbens centrality, a region central to the brain’s reward center. These findings may expand the field of therapies for obesity through novel pathways directed at the BGM axis.
Source: Gut Microbes
DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2022.2051999
Authors: Tien S. Dong, Michelle Guan, Emeran A. Mayer, Jean Stains, Cathy Liu, Priten Vora, Jonathan P. Jacobs, Venu Lagishetty, Lin Chang, Robert L. Barry, Arpana Gupta
Institutions: University of California, Los Angeles, University of California System, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,060
Funders: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH Clinical Center, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Awards: Perception and Modulation of Visceral Sensation, Role of Inflammatory Processes in Reward Network Alterations in Obesity, Role of the Gut Microbiome in Reward Network Alterations in Obesity, Center for Neurovisceral Sciences & Women's Health, CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center, Gastroenterology, Social Isolation and Discrimination as Stressors Influencing Brain-Gut Microbiome Alterations among Filipino and Mexican American, UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute
OpenAlex ID: W4220698730
FWCI: 5.876
Cites: 76
Cited by: 84
Related to: 10