Wendy M. Miller

Background/Objectives: Metabolomics has emerged as a tool to gain insight into the body’s biological responses to therapeutic interventions. Bariatric surgery remains the most effective treatment for severe obesity and associated comorbidities, leading to significant weight and metabolic improvements. Using a multi-platform, multi-compartment metabolomics approach, this study systematically characterizes longitudinal changes in fecal and serum metabolomes of 45 patients following sleeve gastrectomy (SG). Participants were stratified by weight loss outcomes to identify metabolic signatures associated with differential responses, which may serve as predictors of weight loss and provide mechanistic insights in developing targeted therapeutic strategies. Methods: Metabolomic and lipidomic responses to SG were analyzed using multivariable linear mixed-effects models based on data collected pre-operatively and at 3 and 12 months post-operatively. Results: The percentage total weight loss for the highest versus lowest weight loss tertiles (T₃ vs. T₁) at twelve months was 35.81 + 5.4% and 19.49 + 2.62%, p < 0.001, respectively. Substantial alterations in fecal metabolites and lipid species were observed among T3 after twelve months, including aspartate, tyrosine, carnitine, glycine, PC.ae.C36.4, PC.aa.C38.0, PC.ae.C44.4, PC.ae.C40.2, and PC.aa.C40:5. Specifically, changes in serum lipid species including SM.OH.C22:1, PC.ae.C32:1, PC.aa.C34:4, PC.aa.C36:6, PC.ae.C34:3, PC.ae.C34:1, and PC.ae.C32:2, support serum lipidomics as a minimally invasive marker of gut remodeling and adaptation following SG. Sex-stratified analysis revealed unique fecal and serum metabolic changes, highlighting the significance of personalized metabolic monitoring and obesity treatment. Conclusions: Our findings identify metabolic alterations associated with response variability following SG and highlight the potential utility of machine learning to predict weight-loss trajectories and inform personalized interventions.

This prospective observational study aimed to evaluate the association of metabolomic alterations with weight loss outcomes following sleeve gastrectomy (SG). We evaluated the metabolomic profile of serum and feces prior to SG and three months post-SG, along with weight loss outcomes in 45 adults with obesity. The percent total weight loss for the highest versus the lowest weight loss tertiles (T3 vs. T1) was 17.0 ± 1.3% and 11.1 ± 0.8%, p < 0.001. Serum metabolite alterations specific to T3 at three months included a decrease in methionine sulfoxide concentration as well as alterations to tryptophan and methionine metabolism (p < 0.03). Fecal metabolite changes specific to T3 included a decrease in taurine concentration and perturbations to arachidonic acid metabolism, and taurine and hypotaurine metabolism (p < 0.002). Preoperative metabolites were found to be highly predictive of weight loss outcomes in machine learning algorithms, with an average area under the curve of 94.6% for serum and 93.4% for feces. This comprehensive metabolomics analysis of weight loss outcome differences post-SG highlights specific metabolic alterations as well as machine learning algorithms predictive of weight loss. These findings could contribute to the development of novel therapeutic targets to enhance weight loss outcomes after SG.