Probiotic strategy for complications resulting from obesity

Isabel Huber Ruano

Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Spain

Obesity and its complications, most notably type 2 diabetes, have reached epidemic proportions and represent a growing global challenge. Accordingly, there is a need for new therapeutic targets and treatment strategies for counteracting obesity and its comorbidities, while a need for more personalized approaches is also demanded.

Succinate is a metabolite that is elevated in obese and diabetic 2 patients and promotes inflammation and tissue damage. Importantly, succinate is not only produced by human cells, but also by the bacteria present in the human gut.

While many scientific studies point to probiotics as a promising therapeutic option in the treatment of obese and diabetic individuals, the reality is they mostly lack robust scientific evidence and their efficacy is doubtful and difficult to measure.

The project aims to develop a novel probiotic-based intervention that by decreasing the succinate produced by the bacteria in the gut will diminish circulating succinate levels and improve obesity-related complications. A succinate-detection kit will be also developed to support the correct selection of the patients and their follow-up. This disruptive metabolite-driven “personalized” approach will suppose a step forward towards a novel and personalized probiotic strategy for obesity-derived complications "