Publication Details
Abstract
The aim of this article is to compare gut microbiota composition together with anthropometric and biochemical indicators between patients with obesity (prior to semaglutide administration) and patients with early T2DM, and to evaluate the discriminatory value of the studied markers. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study included 51 adults: an obesity group (n = 44; 36 women, 8 men) examined before initiation of the GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide, and a T2DM group (n = 7 women) diagnosed within the preceding three years who had received oral hypoglycaemic agents previously but none during the last three months. Anthropometric data and a biochemical panel (glucose, hepatic enzymes, lipid profile, renal markers) were obtained. Results. Fasting glucose was, by design, markedly higher in the T2DM group (8.84 ± 0.49 vs 4.80 ± 0.53 mmol/L; p < 0.001), whereas anthropometric and lipid indicators did not differ significantly. The T2DM group showed higher abundance of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (9.43 ± 1.90 vs 7.70 ± 1.36 lg Copy/ml; p = 0.023), Klebsiella oxytoca (p = 0.015) and Clostridium difficile (p = 0.018), with a trend toward higher Bifidobacterium spp. and total bacterial mass, while Escherichia coli (p = 0.017) and Enterococcus spp. (p = 0.036) were higher in the obesity group. Fasting glucose correlated positively with Clostridium perfringens (ρ = 0.36), Clostridium difficile (ρ = 0.34) and F. prausnitzii (ρ = 0.29), and BMI with Candida spp. (ρ = 0.31). In ROC analysis, F. prausnitzii (AUC = 0.77), urea (AUC = 0.73) and Bifidobacterium spp. (AUC = 0.71) showed moderate discrimination between the groups. Conclusion. Early, treatment-naïve T2DM and pre-treatment obesity are associated with distinct intestinal microbial signatures detectable by targeted PCR profiling. Selected taxa, in particular F. prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium spp., warrant further evaluation as adjunct biomarkers of metabolic phenotype.