Gut microbiota of obese subjects with Prader-Willi syndrome is linked to metabolic health

What is it about?

The gut microbiota can contribute to the development of obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes. Patients with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are severely obese but partly protected against insulin resistance. We use PWS as a model to study the role of gut microbiota in the prevention of metabolic complications linked to obesity. PWS patients and control subjects with the same percentage fat mass were metabolically characterized. The composition of the fecal microbiota of patients and controls was analysed. The patients’ parents were used as a non-obese control group. Stool samples from PWS patients and obese controls were used for fecal microbiota transplantations in germ free mice to examine the impact of the microbiota on glucose metabolism. The composition of the fecal microbiota in patients with PWS differed from that of obese controls by being more diverse and to have increased abundance several specific bacterial groups. Bacteria prevalent in the PWS microbiota were associated with markers of insulin sensitivity and the improved insulin resistance of PWS could be partly transmitted by fecal microbiota transplantations into germ-free mice.
Taken together, the gut microbiota of PWS might play a role for the protection of PWS patients from obesity-related metabolic complications.


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