Fecal microbiota composition is related to brown adipose tissue F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in young adults.

L Ortiz-Alvarez, F M Acosta, H Xu, G Sanchez-Delgado, R Vilchez-Vargas, A Link, J Plaza-Díaz, J M Llamas, A Gil, I Labayen, P C N Rensen, J R Ruiz, B Martinez-Tellez

Journal: Journal of endocrinological investigation 2023;46(3):567-576

PMID: 36242744

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Plain Language Summary

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a tissue that dissipates energy through the action of the uncoupling protein-1. Moreover, BAT takes up and oxidises glucose and lipids, as such working as a nutrient sink, and through its endocrine function may have cardiometabolic benefits. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of fecal microbiota composition with BAT volume and activity in young adults. This study was a cross-sectional study of 92 young healthy adults (27 men and 65 women, age: 18–25 years old). Results showed that the relative abundance of: - specific genera (Akkermansia, Lachnospiraceae sp., and Ruminococcus) were negatively correlated with BAT volume and activity. - Bifdobacterium genus was positively correlated with BAT activity. Authors concluded faecal microbiota is involved in the regulation of glucose uptake by human BAT and other metabolic tissues including white adipose tissue and skeletal muscles in young adults.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Human brown adipose tissue (BAT) has gained considerable attention as a potential therapeutic target for obesity and its related cardiometabolic diseases; however, whether the gut microbiota might be an efficient stimulus to activate BAT metabolism remains to be ascertained. We aimed to investigate the association of fecal microbiota composition with BAT volume and activity and mean radiodensity in young adults.

METHODS

82 young adults (58 women, 21.8 ± 2.2 years old) participated in this cross-sectional study. DNA was extracted from fecal samples and 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to analyse the fecal microbiota composition. BAT was determined via a static F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan (PET/CT) after a 2 h personalized cooling protocol. F-FDG uptake was also quantified in white adipose tissue (WAT) and skeletal muscles.

RESULTS

The relative abundance of Akkermansia, Lachnospiraceae sp. and Ruminococcus genera was negatively correlated with BAT volume, BAT SUVmean and BAT SUVpeak (all rho ≤ - 0.232, P ≤ 0.027), whereas the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium genus was positively correlated with BAT SUVmean and BAT SUVpeak (all rho ≥ 0.262, P ≤ 0.012). On the other hand, the relative abundance of Sutterellaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae families was positively correlated with F-FDG uptake by WAT and skeletal muscles (all rho ≥ 0.213, P ≤ 0.042). All the analyses were adjusted for the PET/CT scan date as a proxy of seasonality.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that fecal microbiota composition is involved in the regulation of BAT and glucose uptake by other tissues in young adults. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

CLINICAL TRIAL INFORMATION

ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT02365129 (registered 18 February 2015).

Address: PROFITH (PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity) Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain. [email protected].; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain. [email protected].; PROFITH (PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity) Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.; Turku PET Centre, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.; InFLAMES Research Flagship Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.; Department of Physical and Sports Education, School of Sports Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; PROFITH (PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity) Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Department of Physical and Sports Education, School of Sports Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70808, USA.; Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Otto-Von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L1, Canada.; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs Granada, 18014, Granada, Spain.; Servicio de Medicina Nuclear, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs Granada, 18014, Granada, Spain.; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red (CIBER) Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Málaga, Spain.; Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology "José Mataix", Biomedical Research Center, Parque Tecnológico Ciencias de la Salud, University of Granada, Armilla, Granada, Spain.; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, Ibs.Granada, Granada, Spain.; Institute for Innovation and Sustainable Development in Food Chain (IS-FOOD), Public University of Navarra, Campus de Arrosadía, Pamplona, Spain.; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, and Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.; PROFITH (PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity) Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Department of Physical and Sports Education, School of Sports Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, Ibs.Granada, Granada, Spain.; PROFITH (PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity) Research Group, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain. [email protected].; Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, and Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. [email protected].; Department of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, SPORT Research Group (CTS-1024), CERNEP Research Center, University of Almería, Almería, Spain. [email protected].

DOI: 10.1007/s40618-022-01936-x