Changes in bioelectrical and non-bioelectrical variables associated with overweight after a weight-loss program based...

To assess changes in clinical and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) variables associated with overweight, after a 6-day weight-loss protocol based on intestinal microbiota modulation.

A group of 12 young overweight women (OG) were randomly assigned to either a control subgroup (COG, n=6) or an experimental subgroup (EOG, n=6), while, for comparison, eight lean healthy women served as reference (LG). The intervention combined a liquid diet, probiotics, psyllium, bentonite, and a daily open-system trans-anal irrigation. 23 clinical variables not involving BIA (type BIA-0: 12 physical, 9 chemical and 2 biological), and 21 variables obtained by BIA were measured at 4 time points (T1-T4), in a time lapse of 10 weeks. 11 BIA variables were designed as BIA-1, i.e., proper bioimpedance variables, and 10 as BIA-2, i.e., those calculated by a combination of BIA-0 and BIA-1 variables. Intestinal microbiota (IMB) modulation was explored via two biological variables: Firmicutes/Bacteroidota ratio and Akkermansia muciniphila relative prevalence. All variables (except age and height) were also divided in two subtypes: "+", those usually higher in overweight people, whose median values were expected to decrease after the intervention (a total of 26), and "-", those usually lower in overweight people, whose medians values were expected to increase with the intervention (a total of 16).

all 42 variables susceptible to changes with the intervention changed in a favorable direction (their median values moved towards those of the LG), with 32 of the changes showing statistical significance.

In this pilot study, a multimodal microbiota-oriented protocol was associated with consistent and, mostly, clinically meaningful improvements of bioelectrical and physiological markers in overweight young women. Changes in BIA parameters seem to mirror the physiological changes detected in BIA-0 variables. Larger and longer trials are warranted to confirm these findings.