Integrated gut microbiota and metabolomic profiling reveals key associations between amino acid levels and gut microbial composition in patients with obesity

作者：M. Qi, Li Wang · 发表于：Frontiers in Nutrition · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3389/fnut.2025.1648469 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Biochemical effects in animals、Gut microbiota and health、Metabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies

Introduction Obesity is an increasingly serious global health concern and is closely associated with gut dysbiosis and metabolic imbalance. Despite the considerable research conducted on the gut microbiota and metabolism over recent years, studies focusing on their correlation with obesity remain limited. In this study, we sought to characterize the gut microbiota and serum metabolic profiles of patients with obesity, aiming to identify potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for this condition, and explore possible links between altered amino acid levels and gut microbial composition in its pathophysiology. The findings may offer novel insights into obesity prevention and treatment through microbiota modulation or amino acid regulation. Methods Forty adult volunteers with obesity (BMI = 30.9 ± 2.9 kg/m 2 ) who met the diagnostic criteria were enrolled in this study. Pregnant or lactating women and individuals with severe comorbidities were excluded. The control group comprised 20 subjects with normal weight (BMI = 21.9 ± 1.7 kg/m 2 ) and without metabolic disorders, recruited from among outpatients during the same period and matched for age and sex. Fecal microbiota profiling was performed using 16S rRNA sequencing. DNA was extracted from stool samples, and the V3–V4 region was amplified and sequenced on the Illumina platform. After rigorous quality control (QC) and chimera removal, effective tags were clustered into Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) based on sequence ...