Prebiotics Help Reduce Body Fat in Overweight Children

Use of the prebiotic oligofructose-enriched inulin (OI) is associated with altered intestinal microbiota and reduced body weight, percent body fat, trunk fat, and interleukin 6 serum levels in children with overweight or obesity, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers assessed 2 separate cohorts of children ages 7 to 12 years in March 2014 and August 2014 at the University of Calgary in Canada. All participants in the study had overweight or obesity, defined as a body mass index above the 85th percentile, but were otherwise healthy.
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Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 8 g/day OI (n=22) or a once-daily isocaloric dose of maltodextrin placebo (n=20) for 16 weeks. The primary outcome was change in percent body fat from baseline to 16 weeks.

Dual-energy-x-ray absorptiometry was used to measure fat mass and lean mass. Height, weight, and waist circumference measurements were recorded at baseline and every 4 weeks. Blood samples, which were collected at baseline and 16 weeks, were analyzed for lipids, cytokines, lipopolysaccharide, and insulin. Fecal samples were also collected at baseline and 16 weeks. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to profile bile acids, and 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to examine the composition of the microbiota.

Results showed that children who received OI for 16 weeks compared with those who received placebo demonstrated significant reductions in body weight z-score (3.1% decrease vs 0.5% increase), percent body fat (2.4% decrease vs 0.05% increase), percent trunk fat (3.8% decrease vs 0.3% decrease), and levels of interleukin 6 (15% decrease vs 25% increase). Additionally, children in the OI group had a significant 19% decrease in serum triglycerides.

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that Bifidobacterium spp had increased significantly in the OI group vs controls. Furthermore, 16S rRNA sequencing demonstrated significant increases in species of the genus Bifidobacterium and decreases in Bacteroides vulgatus in the OI group. Fecal samples showed that levels of primary bile acids increased over the course of the study in the placebo group but not in the OI group.

“In a placebo-controlled, randomized trial, we found a prebiotic (OI) to selectively alter the intestinal microbiota and significantly reduce body weight z-score, percent body fat, percent trunk fat, and serum level of interleukin 6 in children with overweight or obesity,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Nicolucci AC, Hume MP, Martínez I, Mayengbam S, Walter J, Reimer RA. Prebiotics reduce body fat and alter intestinal microbiota in children who are overweight or with obesity. Gastroenterology. 2017;153(3):711-722. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2017.05.055.