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Intragastric balloon for fatty liver intervention does not affect gut microflora
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PARIS — Patients with obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease who underwent assisted weightloss with an intragastric balloon showed no clinically significant alterations in gut microflora or associated metabonomics, according to a presentation at the International Liver Congress 2018.
“Unfortunately, the treatment options [for NAFLD] remain severely limited; lifestyle modifications remain the mainstay of care, but efficacy rates are low, and the majority of patients will regain any weightloss in the long-term,” Vi Nguyen, MD, from the Westmead Hospital and Westmead Millennium Institute, Australia, said in her presentation. “Bariatric surgery is effective, but it is not a viable treatment option for all. There is, therefore, a growing interest in the use of several bariatric endoscopic devices which can be helpful in this scenario. The most evidence to date pertaining to the use of intragastric balloon.”
Nguyen and colleagues prospectively followed 34 patients recruited for intragastric balloon treatment to observe any dynamic changes in the gut microflora following weightloss.
Mean patients age was 47 years, mean baseline BMI was 39.4 kg/m2, and median HOMA-IR was 4.37. Of the paired follow-up data available, 15 patients successfully achieved 9.5% or more baseline weight loss, while 13 patients did not.
Patients who achieved significant weight loss also achieved an average waist circumference reduction of 15 cm and HOMA-IR reduction of 3.05 (P < .01), and a significant reduction in carbohydrate intake (P = .04).
The researchers observed no significant changes in inflammatory cytokines, any gut microbial taxonomic units, or modifications in metabonomic outputs. However, the researchers did find a negative correlation with saturated fat intake and low-level bacteria such as Dorea (r = 0.28; P = .03) and Butyricoccus (r = 0.26; P = .04).
“Weightloss correlated significantly with improvements in several anthropometric and biochemical indices, but it did not appear to correlate with any clinically significant changes in the gut microflora or fecal metabonomics,” Nguyen concluded. – by Talitha Bennett
For more information:
Nguyen V, et al. PS-108. Presented at: International Liver Congress; Apr. 11-15, 2018; Paris, France.
Disclosure: Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease could not confirm financial relationships at time of publication.