Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Gut. 2024 Jan 5;73(2):298-310. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2023-330365.
Animal studies suggest that prebiotic, plant-derived nutrients could improve homoeostatic and hedonic brain functions through improvements in microbiome-gut-brain communication. However, little is known if these results are applicable to humans. Therefore, we tested the effects of high-dosed prebiotic fibre on reward-related food decision-making in a randomised controlled within-subject cross-over study and assayed potential microbial and metabolic markers.
59 overweight young adults (19 females, 18-42 years, body mass index 25-30 kg/m) underwent functional task MRI before and after 14 days of supplementary intake of 30 g/day of inulin (prebiotics) and equicaloric placebo, respectively. Short chain fatty acids (SCFA), gastrointestinal hormones, glucose/lipid and inflammatory markers were assayed in fasting blood. Gut microbiota and SCFA were measured in stool.
Compared with placebo, participants showed decreased brain activation towards high-caloric wanted food stimuli in the ventral tegmental area and right orbitofrontal cortex after prebiotics (preregistered, family wise error-corrected p <0.05). While fasting blood levels remained largely unchanged, 16S-rRNA sequencing showed significant shifts in the microbiome towards increased occurrence of, among others, SCFA-producing , and changes in >60 predicted functional signalling pathways after prebiotic intake. Changes in brain activation correlated with changes in microbial abundance and associated activity previously linked with SCFA production, such as ABC transporter metabolism.
In this proof-of-concept study, a prebiotic intervention attenuated reward-related brain activation during food decision-making, paralleled by shifts in gut microbiota.
NCT03829189.
动物研究表明，植物源性的益生元营养素可以通过改善微生物群-肠道-大脑通讯来改善稳态和愉悦性的大脑功能。然而，目前尚不清楚这些结果是否适用于人类。因此，我们在一项随机对照、自身交叉研究中测试了高剂量益生元纤维对奖赏相关食物决策的影响，并检测了潜在的微生物和代谢标志物。
59 名超重的年轻成年人（19 名女性，18-42 岁，体重指数 25-30kg/m2）分别在补充 30g/天菊粉（益生元）和等热量安慰剂 14 天前后进行功能磁共振成像（fMRI）。空腹时检测短链脂肪酸（SCFA）、胃肠激素、血糖/脂质和炎症标志物。在粪便中检测肠道微生物群和 SCFA。
与安慰剂相比，补充益生元后，参与者在腹侧被盖区和右侧眶额皮质对高热量想要的食物刺激的大脑激活减少（预先注册，家族性错误校正 p <0.05）。虽然空腹血液水平基本保持不变，但 16S-rRNA 测序显示，微生物组发生了显著变化，更多地出现了产生 SCFA 的微生物，并且在摄入益生元后，超过 60 个预测的功能信号通路发生了变化。大脑激活的变化与微生物丰度的变化相关，这些变化与先前与 SCFA 产生相关的微生物活动相关，例如 ABC 转运体代谢。
在这项概念验证研究中，益生元干预减弱了食物决策过程中的奖赏相关大脑激活，同时肠道微生物群也发生了变化。
NCT03829189。
