LB084 - INDIVIDUALS WITH METABOLICALLY HEALTHY OBESITY EXHIBIT A GUT MICROBIOME SIGNATURE LINKED TO THEIR CARDIOMETABOLIC PROFILE

LB084

INDIVIDUALS WITH METABOLICALLY HEALTHY OBESITY EXHIBIT A GUT MICROBIOME SIGNATURE LINKED TO THEIR CARDIOMETABOLIC PROFILE

A. Donkers^1,*, A. Maciejewski¹, H. Huber¹, L. Klümpen¹, A. Schieren¹, W. Seel¹, R. Dolscheid-Pommerich², P. Stehle³, M.-C. Simon¹

¹Nutrition and Microbiota, University of Bonn, ²Central Laboratory, University Hospital Bonn, ³Nutritional Physiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Rationale: Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) is a concept based on observations that some individuals with obesity have a relatively low cardiometabolic risk. However, MHO is often transient with individuals progressing to metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO). Given the gut microbiota’s role in host metabolism, we examined the microbiome in MHO and MUO to identify factors underlying their distinct metabolic profiles.

Methods: Subjects with obesity (BMI >30 kg/m²) were defined as MHO by blood pressure (BP), fasting glucose, HDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides according to the BioSHaRE-EU healthy obesity project and matched with MUO counterparts based on age, sex, and BMI. Matsuda Index, determined by an oral glucose tolerance test, and HOMA-IR were calculated to assess insulin sensitivity and resistance. Fecal samples were collected for 16S rRNA sequencing; diversity was analyzed using QIIME2. Sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis was conducted to identify microbiome features distinguishing MHO and MUO.

Results: Eighteen MHO–MUO pairs (56±7 years, BMI 33.5±3.0 kg/m²) were included. Subjects with MHO exhibited higher alpha diversity compared to MUO, as indicated by Observed Features (p=.017), Shannon Index (p=.005), and Faith’s Phylogenetic Diversity (p=.022). Alpha diversity correlated positively with insulin sensitivity and negatively with insulin resistance, triglycerides, and diastolic BP (all |r|>.35, p<.05). Bacteria from the Oscillospiraceae and Lachnospiraceae families were key discriminatory features, correlating negatively with BP and triglycerides (all |r|>.35, p<.05).

Conclusion: Results from our pilot study imply that the MHO phenotype is associated with preservation of gut microbial diversity and specific bacteria that correlate with metabolic factors, suggesting that maintaining microbiome eubiosis might be a feasible approach to conserve cardiometabolic health.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared