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Probiotics and the Gut Microbiome in Obesity

A Special Issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643) belonging to the section "Prebiotics, Probiotics and Postbiotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2027 | Viewed by 2569

Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Treatment of Obesity, Metabolic Disorders and Clinical Dietetics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Szamarzewskiego 84 St., 60-569 Poznan, Poland
Interests: obesity; metabolic disorders; weight regulation; chronotype; nutrition; microbiota
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Treatment of Obesity, Metabolic Disorders and Clinical Dietitics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Fredry 10, 61-701 Poznań, Poland
Interests: obesity; insulin resistance; dyslipidemia; metabolic syndrome; type 2 diabetes; microbiota
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Obesity is a complex disease, influenced by genetic, behavioral and environmental conditions. The latter involves mainly lifestyle factors, such as an unhealthy diet or a low physical activity level. The next factor, strongly correlated with excessive body weight, is gut microbiota. The microorganisms that inhabit the human gastrointestinal tract play an important role in not only regulating metabolism, energy balance, appetite and nutrient absorption, but also the functions of the immune and hormonal system, thus they seem to participate in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. Growing scientific evidence also highlights that alterations in gut microbial composition, determined as dysbiosis, may contribute to the development of obesity.

One of the effective supporting strategies for obesity treatment, along with diet modifications and/or pharmacology, is probiotic supplementation. Probiotic strains modulate the diversity of the gut microbiota and influence metabolic pathways commonly associated with obesity. On the other hand, the exact mechanism of its actions remains uncertain. The next challenges related to probiotics intake involve translating microbiome research into clinical practice.

This Special Issue aims to explore the relationship between the gut microbiome and obesity, as well as the role of probiotics in weight management and metabolic health. We invite original research, review articles and clinical trials in the indicated thematic scope.

Dr. Marta Pelczyńska
Prof. Dr. Pawel Bogdanski
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • microbiome
  • gut microbiota
  • microorganisms
  • dysbiosis
  • obesity
  • metabolic health
  • body mass index
  • body weight
  • probiotics
  • prebiotics
  • synbiotics
  • postbiotics
  • gut metabolites

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 3472 KB  
Article
Energy-Metabolism-Enhancing Probiotics Enhance the Therapeutic Response to a Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist
by A-Ram Kim, Seong-Gak Jeon, So-Jung Park, Byoung-Kook Kim, Mi-Na Kweon, Myoung Ho Jang and Bo-Gie Yang
Nutrients 2026, 18(7), 1050; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18071050 - 26 Mar 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2119
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are effective treatments for obesity, but substantial weight regain is common after therapy is discontinued. This study investigated whether probiotic strains with anti-obesity effects could enhance GLP-1RA-induced weight loss and attenuate post-treatment weight rebound. Methods: [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are effective treatments for obesity, but substantial weight regain is common after therapy is discontinued. This study investigated whether probiotic strains with anti-obesity effects could enhance GLP-1RA-induced weight loss and attenuate post-treatment weight rebound. Methods: Candidate lactic acid bacteria were screened for anti-obesity efficacy in a high-fat-diet (HFD)-induced obese mouse model, and the selected strain was further characterized using metabolomic profiling of culture supernatants. To examine its interaction with GLP-1RA therapy, obese mice received dulaglutide for 4 weeks and were monitored for 2 weeks after treatment withdrawal, while the probiotic was orally administered for a total of 6 weeks. Body weight, glycemic parameters, and muscle strength were assessed throughout the study. Results: Limosilactobacillus fermentum GB102 reduced body weight and improved glycemic control in HFD-fed mice. These metabolic benefits were associated with alterations in circulating metabolic hormones, including adipokines, along with attenuated inflammatory responses in adipose tissue. Metabolomic profiling revealed that GB102 produced high levels of succinic acid, a metabolite previously linked to thermogenic activation. This strain increased whole-body energy expenditure in HFD-fed mice, produced glutamine, and showed enhanced conversion of arginine into ornithine and citrulline. When combined with dulaglutide, GB102 enhanced weight loss, preserved muscle strength, and attenuated both weight regain and glycemic rebound following dulaglutide withdrawal. Conclusions: These findings suggest that energy-metabolism-enhancing probiotics such as GB102 may enhance the metabolic effects of GLP-1RA therapy and help attenuate weight regain after treatment discontinuation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Probiotics and the Gut Microbiome in Obesity)
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