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Cited by 128Bariatric Surgery and OutcomesMetabolomics and Mass Spectrometry StudiesGut microbiota and health

Metabolomic fingerprint of severe obesity is dynamically affected by bariatric surgery in a procedure-dependent manner

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Gralka, Ewa, Luchinat, Claudio, Tenori, Leonardo, Ernst, Barbara, Thurnheer, Martin, Schultes, Bernd·2015·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
DOI 10.3945/ajcn.115.110536
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Abstract

Background Obesity is associated with multiple diseases. Bariatric surgery is the most effective therapy for severe obesity that can reduce body weight and obesity-associated morbidity. The metabolic alterations associated with obesity and respective changes after bariatric surgery are incompletely understood. Objective We comprehensively assessed metabolic alterations associated with severe obesity and distinct bariatric procedures. Design In our longitudinal observational study, we applied a (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance-based global, untargeted metabolomics strategy on human serum samples that were collected before and repeatedly ≤1 y after distinct bariatric procedures [i.e., a sleeve gastrectomy, proximal Roux-en Y gastric bypass (RYGB), and distal RYGB]. For comparison, we also analyzed serum samples from normal-weight and less-obese subjects who were matched for 1-y postoperative body mass index (BMI) values of the surgical groups. Results We identified a metabolomic fingerprint in obese subjects that was clearly discriminated from that of normal-weight subjects. Furthermore, we showed that bariatric surgery (sleeve gastrectomy and proximal and distal RYGB) dynamically affected this fingerprint in a procedure-dependent manner, thereby establishing new fingerprints that could be discriminated from those of BMI-matched and normal-weight control subjects. Metabolites that largely contributed to the metabolomic fingerprints of severe obesity were aromatic and branched-chain amino acids (elevated), metabolites related to energy metabolism (pyruvate and citrate; elevated), and metabolites suggested to be derived from gut microbiota (formate, methanol, and isopropanol; all elevated). Conclusion Our data indicate that bariatric surgery, irrespective of the specific kind of procedure used, reverses most of the metabolic alterations associated with obesity and suggest profound changes in gut microbiome-host interactions after the surgery. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02480322.

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  • Amelioration of obesity by bariatric or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery results in change in gut microbial composition.

    “In addition, amelioration of obesity by bariatric or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery results in a change in gut microbial composition (Gralka et al., 2015;Tremaroli et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2009), even though this is not the case for weight gain in anorexia nervosa (Mack et al., 2016).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Gralka et al., 2015

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Gralka, E., Luchinat, C., Tenori, L., Ernst, B., Thurnheer, M., & Schultes, B.
Affiliations
  • Fondazione Farmacogenomica FiorGen (IT)
  • University of Florence (IT)
  • eSwiss Medical and Surgical Center (CH)
Corresponding author
Schultes, Bernd
ORCID
Venue
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-12
Volume
102
Issue
6
Pages
1313-1322
ISSN
0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3945/ajcn.115.110536
OpenAlex
W2182516496
Cited by
128
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8
FWCI
11.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Italian Farmacogenomic Foundation Fiorgen
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Bariatric Surgery and Outcomes
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
Keywords
morbid obesity, bariatric surgery, sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, serum metabolomics, metabolomic fingerprint, gut microbiota, host-microbiota interactions, branched-chain amino acids, aromatic amino acids, energy metabolism, pyruvate, citrate, formate, methanol, isopropanol
MeSH terms
Adult, Amino Acids, Branched-Chain, Blood Banks, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Monte Carlo Method, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Obesity, Obesity, Morbid, Switzerland, Gastric Bypass, Up-Regulation, Body Mass Index, Discriminant Analysis, Matched-Pair Analysis, Pyruvic Acid, Citric Acid, Amino Acids, Aromatic, Metabolomics

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