Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass profoundly changes gut microbiota compared to laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a metagenomic comparative analysis
Authors: Farin William , Oñate Florian Plaza , Plassais Jonathan , Bonny Christophe , Beglinger Christoph , Woelnerhanssen Bettina , Nocca David , Magoules Frederic , Chatelier Emmanuelle Le , Pons Nicolas , Cervino Alessandra C.L. , Ehrlich S. Dusko 
Published: September 2018

Background

Bariatric surgery is an effective therapeutic procedure for morbidly obese patients as it induces sustained weight loss. The two most common interventions are Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) and Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (LRYGB).

Objective

Characterizing the gut microbiota changes induced by LSG and LRYGB.

Design

89 and 108 patients who underwent LSG and LRYGB respectively, were recruited from three countries: USA, France and Switzerland. Stools were collected before and 6 months after surgery. Microbial DNA was analysed with shotgun metagenomic sequencing (SOLiD 5500xl Wildfire). MSPminer, a novel innovative tool to characterize new in silico biological entities, was used to identify 715 Metagenomic Species Pan-genome (MSPs). 148 functional modules were analysed using GOmixer and KEGG database.

Results

Both interventions resulted in a similar increase of Shannon’s diversity index and gene richness of gut microbiota, in parallel with weight loss, but the changes of microbial composition were different. LRYGB led to higher relative abundance of aero-tolerant bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and buccal species, such as Streptococcus and Veillonella spp. In contrast, anaerobes such as Clostridium were more abundant after LSG, suggesting better conservation of anaerobic conditions in the gut. Function-level changes included higher potential for bacterial use of supplements such as vitamin B12, B1 and iron upon LRYGB. Moreover, after LRYGB, potential for nitrate and Trimethylamine oxidized (TMAO) respiration was detected.

Conclusion

Microbiota changes after bariatric surgery depend on the nature of the intervention. LRYGB induces greater taxonomic and functional changes in gut microbiota than LSG and may lead to a more dysbiotic microbiome. Possible long-term health consequences of these alterations remain to be established.

Significance of this study

What is already known on this subject?

Previous studies have reported changes of microbial composition after bariatric surgery with shotgun metagenomics, but lacked statistical power to document the changes. Important shifts in gut microbiome have been observed after LRYGB and LSG with an increase of aerotolerants from buccal microbiota. However, it is not clear how different the changes are between LRYGB and LSG although both procedures induce quite similar results with respect to weight loss, comorbidities remission and global glycaemic improvement outcomes.

What are the new findings?

LSG and LRYGB have specific but different impacts on gut microbial composition 6 months after bariatric surgery. The changes could be related to specific physiological effects. LRYGB promotes an important invasion of oral colonizers with Veillonella and Streptococcus genera. In contrast, these changes were less important after LSG. Moreover, microbial transportation potential of iron and vitamin B12 were also higher after LRYGB than LSG. We concluded that the type of surgery leads to different gut microbiome and functional profiles.

How might it impact on clinical practice in the foreseeable future?

Microbiome composition and functional profiles are not altered to the same extent by LRYGB and LSG 6 months after surgery. This difference should be considered when advising the patient on the type of bariatric surgery or post op diet.