Effects of a Very-Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet on the Fecal and Urinary Volatilome in an Obese Patient Cohort: A Preliminary Investigation

Several recent studies deepened the strong connection between gut microbiota and obesity. The effectiveness of the very-low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) has been measured in terms of positive impact on the host homeostasis, but little is known of the modification exerted on the intestinal metabolome. To inspect this complex relationship, we analyzed both fecal and urinary metabolome in terms of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by the GC-MS method in 25 obese patients that were under VLCKD for eight weeks. Partial least square discriminant analysis evidenced specific urinary and fecal metabolites whose profile can be considered a signature of a partial restore toward the host eubiosis. Specifically, among various keystone VOCs, the decreased concentration of four statistically significant fecal esters (i.e., propanoic acid pentyl ester, butanoic acid hexyl ester, butanoic acid pentyl ester, and pentanoic acid butyl ester) supports the positive effect of VLCKD treatment. Our pilot study results suggest a potential positive effect of VLCKD intervention affecting fecal and urinary volatilome profiles from obese patients. Meta-omics techniques including the study of genes and transcripts will help in developing new interventions useful in preventing or treating obesity and its associated health problems.