Influence of gut-to-brain neuroendocrine pathways and intestinal microbiota on energy homeostasis

Resumo

Obesity is a major global public health challenge that has reached epidemic proportions. Besides its profound impact on health and well-being, this metabolic disorder represents a significant economic burden to society. Our westernized environment where high-calorie foods are readily available, represents a major driver of the chronic imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure that cause obesity. The limited effectiveness of behavioral interventions to manage long-term weight loss highlights the urgent need to develop more effective and minimally invasive approaches to prevent and treat obesity and its comorbidities. The development of gut-targeted therapeutic strategies to improve metabolic health requires a comprehensive understanding of the gut neuroendocrine signaling pathways that, in interaction with the gut microbiota, control feeding behavior to ultimately maintain energy balance. The aim of this thesis has been to gain insight into gut-brain interactions, including those mediated by endocrine, neural and gut microbial components, involved in the control of energy homeostasis, with a focus on obesogenic diet-related dysfunctions that increase susceptibility to develop obesity. In Chapters 1 and 2, we have investigated novel functions of sensory afferent neurons expressing the sodium channel Nav1.8 in the control of energy homeostasis, considering sex-specificities, by generating a mouse model lacking Nav1.8+ neurons through a diphtheria toxin ablation strategy. In Chapter 1, we show that Nav1.8+ neurons are required to control neural and endocrine pathways involved in energy homeostasis in a sex-specific manner. Specifically, ablation of Nav1.8+ neurons in females improves postprandial glucose regulation by enhancing glucagon-like peptide-1 enteroendocrine signaling and accelerating intestinal transit, whereas in males it induces resistance to weight gain in response to an obesogenic diet. To further explore the role of Nav1.8+ neurons in controlling food intake and pre- and post-prandial daily rhythms that influence metabolic phenotype, in Chapter 2 we show in males that ablation of Nav1.8+ sensory neurons impairs the coordinated control of food intake and body weight fluctuations throughout the day. The loss of these neurons also alters the physiological enteroendocrine signaling and daily gut microbiota oscillations in response to the nutritional status (fasting/refeeding cycles) and disrupts intestinal immune homeostasis. In Chapter 3, we used a diet-induced obese mouse model to investigate the mechanisms by which Phascolarctobacterium faecium DSM 32890, a gut bacterial strain isolated from metabolically healthy humans, prevents obesity by modulating food intake. We show that administration of P. faecium reduces caloric intake by promoting hypersecretion of a satiating gastrointestinal hormone, the peptide YY (PYY). Independently of its anorexigenic effects, the bacterium exerts its metabolic benefits via complementary mechanisms, specifically by stimulating intestinal transit and reducing intestinal lipid absorption, thereby preventing body fat accumulation. In conclusion, this doctoral thesis provides preclinical evidence for a better understanding of gut-to-brain neuroendocrine pathways and the role of gut microbiota in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. We highlight the importance of Nav1.8+ sensory afferent neurons in gut chemosensing for maintaining energy balance in both sexes, which prompts novel research lines and opportunities to design of sex-specific neuromodulation tools targeting Nav1.8+ neurons for prevention and treatment of diet-induced metabolic disorders. We also highlight that P. faecium is a promising next-generation probiotic candidate, as it modulates the host enteroendocrine system and prevents obesity in a preclinical model. Overall, our findings contribute to the development of gut-based therapeutic strategies to combat obesity and associated comorbidities.