TOPLINE:

Daily supplementation with pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila MucT after weight loss led to less weight regain than placebo, a small trial showed.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers enrolled 90 adults with overweight or obesity in the Netherlands (mean age, 53 years; nearly 50% women) in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
• Participants underwent an 8-week, low-energy diet, and those who achieved ≥ 8% weight loss (84 participants) went on to follow a 24-week healthy ad libitum diet, along with a daily oral supplement of pasteurized A muciniphila MucT or placebo.
• The primary outcome was change in body weight during the 24-week maintenance period.

TAKEAWAY:

• Participants taking MucT had less body weight regain than those taking placebo at the end of the weight-maintenance period; those who received the bacteria supplement regained 13.6% of the weight they lost in the first phase, whereas those who received the placebo regained 32.9% (weight regain with MucT, 1.2 kg; regain with placebo, 3.2 kg).
• In the MucT group, 16 completers (approximately 40%) reduced their weight even further in the maintenance period, whereas only two participants (approximately 5%) in the placebo group did so.
• The MucT group had greater net weight loss from baseline to the end of maintenance than the placebo group (3.1 kg) and showed better preservation of insulin sensitivity.
• No serious treatment-related adverse events were reported during the study period.

IN PRACTICE:

“Pasteurized A muciniphila MucT supplementation could represent a promising strategy for long-term [weight maintenance] after energy restriction or GLP-1 receptor agonist use,” the authors wrote.

Commenting on the study, Francisco Jesús Gómez Delgado, coordinator of the Vascular Risk Unit at Jaén University Hospital, Andalusia, Spain, acknowledged the limitations but concluded, “This study identifies the gut microbiota as a genuine therapeutic target in the management of obesity. Furthermore, it is proposed as a complementary tool to supplement pharmacological, nutritional, and behavioral strategies, which makes it an interesting option.”

SOURCE:

Ellen E. Blaak, PhD, Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands, was principal investigator of the study, which was published in Nature Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

The study had limitations, including its small sample size, short follow-up period, and lack of a control pasteurized bacterial strain.

DISCLOSURES:

Blaak declared serving as a scientific advisor to The Akkermansia Company SA and an inventor on a patent application related to this study. Delgado declared serving as a speaker for Ferrer, Amgen, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim-Lilly, Janssen, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, Novartis, Rovi, and Vifor; being an advisory board member of Amgen and Sanofi; receiving conference invitations from Ferrer, Amgen, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim-Lilly, Janssen, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, and Rovi; and serving as a clinical trial investigator for Ferrer, Amgen, Sanofi, Janssen, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, Novartis, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and Boehringer Ingelheim-Lilly.

Marilynn Larkin, MA, is an award-winning medical writer and editor whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Medscape Medical News and its sister publication MDedge, The Lancet (where she was a contributing editor), and Reuters Health.