AUTHOR=Kaczmarczyk Mariusz , Szulińska Monika , Łoniewski Igor , Kręgielska-Narożna Matylda , Skonieczna-Żydecka Karolina , Kosciolek Tomasz , Bezshapkin Valentyn , Bogdański Paweł 

TITLE=Treatment With Multi-Species Probiotics Changes the Functions, Not the Composition of Gut Microbiota in Postmenopausal Women With Obesity: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2022.815798

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2022.815798

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>Probiotics are known to regulate host metabolism. In randomized controlled trial we aimed to assess whether interventions with probiotic containing following strains: <italic>Bifidobacterium bifidum</italic> W23, <italic>Bifidobacterium lactis</italic> W51, <italic>Bifidobacterium lactis</italic> W52, <italic>Lactobacillus acidophilus</italic> W37, <italic>Levilactobacillus brevis</italic> W63, <italic>Lacticaseibacillus casei</italic> W56, <italic>Ligilactobacillus salivarius</italic> W24, <italic>Lactococcus lactis</italic> W19, and <italic>Lactococcus lactis</italic> W58 affect gut microbiota to promote metabolic effects. By 16S rRNA sequencing we analyzed the fecal microbiota of 56 obese, postmenopausal women randomized into three groups: (1) probiotic dose 2.5 × 10<sup>9</sup> CFU/day (n = 18), (2) 1 × 10<sup>10</sup> CFU/day (n = 18), or (3) placebo (n = 20). In the set of linear mixed-effects models, the interaction between pre- or post-treatment bacterial abundance and time on cardiometabolic parameters was significantly (FDR-adjusted) modified by type of intervention (26 and 19 three-way interactions for the pre-treatment and post-treatment abundance, respectively), indicating the modification of the bio-physiological role of microbiota by probiotics. For example, the unfavorable effects of <italic>Erysipelotrichi</italic>, <italic>Erysipelotrichales</italic>, and <italic>Erysipelotrichaceae</italic> on BMI might be reversed, but the beneficial effect of <italic>Betaproteobacteria</italic> on BMI was diminished by probiotic treatment. Proinflammatory effect of Bacteroidaceae was alleviated by probiotic administration. However, probiotics did not affect the microbiota composition, and none of the baseline microbiota-related features could predict therapeutic response as defined by cluster analysis. Conclusions: Probiotic intervention alters the influence of microbiota on biochemical, physiological and immunological parameters, but it does not affect diversity and taxonomic composition. Baseline microbiota is not a predictor of therapeutic response to a multispecies probiotic. Further multi-omic and mechanistic studies performed on the bigger cohort of patients are needed to elucidate the cardiometabolic effect of investigated probiotics in postmenopausal obesity.</p>