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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Aug 14;114(3):406-17.
doi: 10.1017/S0007114515001786. Epub 2015 Jul 2.

Dietary modulation of the gut microbiota--a randomised controlled trial in obese postmenopausal women

Lena K Brahe  1 , Emmanuelle Le Chatelier  2 , Edi Prifti  2 , Nicolas Pons  2 , Sean Kennedy  2 , Trine Blædel  1 , Janet Håkansson  3 , Trine Kastrup Dalsgaard  4 , Torben Hansen  5 , Oluf Pedersen  5 , Arne Astrup  1 , S Dusko Ehrlich  2 , Lesli H Larsen  1
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Randomized Controlled Trial

Dietary modulation of the gut microbiota--a randomised controlled trial in obese postmenopausal women

Lena K Brahe et al. Br J Nutr. .
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Abstract

The gut microbiota has been implicated in obesity and its progression towards metabolic disease. Dietary interventions that target the gut microbiota have been suggested to improve metabolic health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of interventions with Lactobacillus paracasei F19 or flaxseed mucilage on the gut microbiota and metabolic risk markers in obesity. A total of fifty-eight obese postmenopausal women were randomised to a single-blinded, parallel-group intervention of 6-week duration, with a daily intake of either L. paracasei F19 (9.4 × 1010 colony-forming units), flaxseed mucilage (10 g) or placebo. Quantitative metagenomic analysis of faecal DNA was performed to identify the changes in the gut microbiota. Diet-induced changes in metabolic markers were explored using adjusted linear regression models. The intake of flaxseed mucilage over 6 weeks led to a reduction in serum C-peptide and insulin release during an oral glucose tolerance test (P< 0.05) and improved insulin sensitivity measured by Matsuda index (P< 0.05). Comparison of gut microbiota composition at baseline and after 6 weeks of intervention with flaxseed mucilage showed alterations in abundance of thirty-three metagenomic species (P< 0.01), including decreased relative abundance of eight Faecalibacterium species. These changes in the microbiota could not explain the effect of flaxseed mucilage on insulin sensitivity. The intake of L. paracasei F19 did not modulate metabolic markers compared with placebo. In conclusion, flaxseed mucilage improves insulin sensitivity and alters the gut microbiota; however, the improvement in insulin sensitivity was not mediated by the observed changes in relative abundance of bacterial species.

Keywords: Flaxseed mucilage; Gut microbiota; Metagenomics; Obesity-related disease; Probiotics.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Illustration of the 6-week parallel-group intervention, with participants randomised to one of the three different diet groups.
Fig. 2
Flow chart of the study.
Fig. 3
The presence and abundance of the thirty-three species that differed significantly before and after 6 weeks of intervention with flaxseed mucilage. Each barcode illustrates the abundance of a species, either enriched at baseline (top) or week 6 (bottom): samples are in columns (same order for both time points) and the fifty ‘tracer’ genes are in rows. Gene abundance is indicated by colour gradient from white (not detected) over blue, green and yellow to red (most abundant). Taxonomical information is given for each species; the number of genes within each metagenomic species is given in parenthesis. Fdr, Benjamini Hochberg multiple testing correction of paired Wilcoxon tests; unk., unknown taxonomy.
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