Oral butyrate supplementation effective in pediatric obesity

Oral butyrate supplementation in addition to standard care appears to be an effective treatment for pediatric obesity, according to a study.

In this randomized, quadruple-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 54 children between the ages of 5 and 17 years with body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile were randomized to receive standard care with supplemental oral sodium butyrate (20 mg/kg body weight per day) or placebo for 6 months. The main outcome was a decrease of at least 0.25 BMI SD scores at 6 months

Four children in the butyrate group and 2 in the placebo group were lost to follow-up.

At the intention-to-treat analysis including 54 children, 96% of those treated with butyrate had a BMI decrease ≥0.25 SD scores at 6 months compared with 56% in the placebo group.

Below is the change for the butyrate group compared with the placebo group at the per-protocol analysis (n = 48):
-Waist circumference: 5.07 cm
-Insulin level: -5.41 μU/mL
-Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance: -1.14
-Ghrelin level: -47.89 μg/mL
-MicroRNA221 relative expression: -2.17
-IL-6 level, -4.81 pg/mL

Adherence was similar between the groups.

Reference
Coppola S, Nocerino R, Paparo L, et al. Therapeutic Effects of Butyrate on Pediatric Obesity: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(12):e2244912. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.44912. PMID: 36469320.