Palmitoylethanolamide modulates high-fat diet-shaped gut function and microbiota composition in obese mice

Introduction/Background & aims: Emerging data indicate a pivotal role for gut microbiota in the progression of obesity. Indeed, in the gut, high-fat diet (HFD) intake induces the loss of barrier integrity, causing the transfer of detrimental factors (i.e. lipopolysaccharide, LPS) into the systemic circulation, leading to metabolic dysfunctions and an overall state of low-grade inflammation, called “met- ainflammation” [1]. The metabolic and anti-inflammatory activities of palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), an endogenous lipid mediator, prompt us to evaluate its capability to improve intestinal homeostasis and shape gut microbiota composition altered in HFD-fed obese mice. Method/Summary of work: Male C57Bl/6 J mice received standard diet (STD) or HFD (n = 10 each group). After 12 weeks, a subgroup of HFD mice was treated with PEA (30 μg/kg/die per os) for 7 weeks. Body weight was monitored during the treatment and fat mass was evaluated at the end of experimental time. Systemic parameters and intestinal function were examined using ELISA assay, and Real-Time PCR analysis, respectively. Faecal microbiota was studied by per- forming 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing and linear discriminant analy- sis in order to obtain the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) defining the bacterial communities.