Oral Glutamine Supplementation during obesity: focus on functional gastrointestinal disorders and insulin-resistance – OBEGLU

Obesity, which has a prevalence at 15% in France, is a major public health concern. Altered glycemic control and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are frequently observed in obese patients and lead to reduce the quality of life. In the last decades, the role of gut microbiota and intestinal permeability has been underlined in obesity, glycemic control and IBS. Interestingly, experimental and clinical data show that glutamine, an amino acid, is able to maintain or restore intestinal permeability in different conditions. We thus hypothesize that oral glutamine supplementation may restore gut barrier function contributing to improve glycemic control and IBS-symptoms. Our project will combine evaluation of glutamine both in obese mice and in obese patients with insulin resistance and IBS. Intestinal permeability and gut microbiota will be analyzed, experiments of microbiota transplantation from patients to mice will be performed to understand the underlying mechanisms of glutamine effects.