Intermittent fasting modulates the intestinal microbiota and improves obesity and host energy metabolism

Abstract

Intermittent fasting is a promising paradigm for weight loss which has been shown to modulate the gut microbiota in a couple of populations, yet limited information at the species level is available. Here, 72 Chinese volunteers with a wide range of BMIs participated in a three-week IF program during which an average loss of 3.67 kg body weight accompanied with improved clinical parameters was observed irrespective of initial anthropometric and gut microbiota status. Fecal samples were collected before and after the intervention and subjected to shotgun metagenomic sequencing. De novo assembling yielded 2934 Metagenome-Assembled Genomes (MAGs). Profiling revealed significant enrichment of Parabacteroides distasonis and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron after the intervention, with inverse correlations between their relative abundances and parameters related to obesity and ACVD. MAGs enriched after the intervention exhibited high richness and diversity of carbohydrate-active enzymes, with an increased relative abundances of genes related to succinate production and glutamate fermentation.