(P06-017-23) The Impact of Two Different Ingredient Blends on Gas Production and Indicators of Gut Health Using an In Vitro Model

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to determine if a modified ingredient blend would result in decreased gas production by the gut microbiome compared with a control formulation. A secondary objective was to determine changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolite production between the control and modified formulations.

Methods: A control formulation with inulin, fructose, maltitol, and other ingredients was compared to a modified blend (treatment) with soluble corn fiber and reduced concentrations of fructose (82%↓) and maltitol (100%↓). Each was subjected to in vitro digestion and 24 h fermentation using fecal bacteria from 6 stool donors (3 normal weight/3 individuals with obesity). Gas production was measured by volume using a graduated syringe. Short chain fatty acids were measured by gas chromatography. Microbiota composition was measured by amplicon sequencing of the V5-V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene with the MiSeq (Illumina) platform using a kit (QIAGEN BioSprint 96 One-for-all Vet Kit). Analyses were performed in triplicate after 0, 8, and 24 h of fermentation.

Results: After 24 h of fermentation, the treatment formulation resulted in reduced gas production in microbiomes from donors with obesity compared with the blank (p=0.02). The treatment formulation also tended to decrease Bifidobacterium abundances. Both the control and treatment formulations were acetogenic and reduced the production of branched chain fatty acids, although the control tended to do this to a greater degree than the treatment. The results for the normal weight microbiomes were diminished in magnitude or in some cases opposite to the microbiomes from donors with obesity.

Conclusions: The treatment formulation was successful in reducing gas production by the microbiomes from donors with obesity. These results suggest that the treatment formulation may result in less GI distress in individuals with obesity. However, the treatment formulation also decreased abundance of Bifidobacterium, possibly due to removal of inulin, and was not as effective at reducing proteolytic fermentation. To support GI health, further efforts to modify the treatment formulation to enhance the bifidogenic effects and beneficial microbial metabolites, while continuing to minimize GI distress, are warranted, and should be validated in future human studies.

Funding Sources: Medifast, Inc.