Pre-treatment microbial Prevotella-to-Bacteroides ratio, determines body fat loss success during a 6-month randomized controlled diet intervention

Based on the abundance of specific bacterial genera, the human gut microbiota can be divided into two relatively stable groups that might play a role in personalized nutrition. We studied these simplified enterotypes as prognostic markers for successful body fat loss on two different diets. A total of 62 participants with increased waist circumference were randomly assigned to receive an ad libitum New Nordic Diet (NND) high in fiber/wholegrain or an Average Danish Diet (ADD) for 26 weeks.

Participants were grouped into two discrete enterotypes by their relative abundance of Prevotella spp. divided by Bacteroides spp. (P/B ratio) obtained by quantitative PCR analysis. Modifications of dietary effects of pre-treatment P/B group were examined by linear mixed models. Among individuals with high P/B the NND resulted in a 3.15 kg (95%CI 1.55;4.76, P<0.001) larger body fat loss compared to ADD whereas no differences was observed among individuals with low P/B (0.88 kg [95% CI −0.61;2.37, P=0.25]).

Consequently, a 2.27 kg (95%CI 0.09;4.45, P=0.041) difference in responsiveness to the diets were found between the two groups. In summary, subjects with high P/B-ratio appeared more susceptible to lose body fat on diets high in fiber and wholegrain than subjects with a low P/B-ratio.