Journal: International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2021)
Authors: Ferrulli A, Drago L, Gandini S, Massarini S, Bellerba F, Senesi P, Terruzzi I, Luzi L
Background:
Growing evidence highlights the crucial role of gut microbiota in affecting different aspects of obesity. Potential mechanisms for microbial control over eating behavior include microbiota influence on reward and satiety pathways, neurotransmitters release, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis modulation. dTMS is a methodology proved to be effective in modulating orexigenic/anorexigenic pathways and food-reward system in obesity.
Objective:
Considering the ability of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) to modulate the cortical excitability, the reward system, and, indirectly, the autonomic nervous system (ANS), we hypothesized a potential role of dTMS in affecting the brain-gut communication pathways, and the gut microbiota composition in obesity.
Methods:
Twenty-two subjects with obesity (5 M, 17 F; 44.9 ± 2.2 years; BMI 37.5 ± 1.0 kg/m2) were randomized into three groups receiving 15 sessions (3 per week for 5 weeks) of high frequency (HF), low frequency (LF) dTMS, or sham stimulation. Fecal samples were collected at baseline and after 5 weeks of treatment. Total bacterial DNA was extracted from fecal samples and analyzed by a metagenomics approach.
Results:
After 5 weeks, a significant weight loss was found in HF compared to LF and sham groups, associated with a decrease in norepinephrine compared to baseline. Furthermore, an increase in Faecalibacterium and Alistipes genera, and a significant decrease in Lactobacillus were found in HF. Faecalibacterium variations were not significant compared to baseline in the other two groups as well as Alistipes and Lactobacillus variations. Norepinephrine change significantly correlated with Bacteroides, Eubacterium, and Parasutterella abundance variations in HF.
Conclusions:
In conclusion, HF dTMS treatment revealed to be effective in modulating gut microbiota composition in subjects with obesity, reversing obesity-associated microbiota variations, and promoting bacterial species representative of healthy subjects with anti-inflammatory properties.
