DIME2: Anaerobutyricum soehngenii improves glycemic control and other markers of cardio-metabolic health in adults at risk of type 2 diabetes
Anaerobutyricum soehngenii (previously Eubacterium hallii) is a butyrate-producing next-generation beneficial microbe generally recognized as safe. To expand on earlier short-term trials, we performed a 3-month double-blind placebo-controlled intervention in 98 prediabetic adults in Europe and U.S. with daily administration of encapsulated 109 A. soehngenii CH-106 cells. Compared to placebo, A.soehngenii-treated subjects showed significantly reduced glycemic variability and improved glycemic control, including reduced plasma glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels when including the 4-week washout period. Diastolic blood pressure was reduced in all A.soehngenii-treated subjects. The study product was well-tolerated and had no effect on the global intestinal microbiota composition but increased the abundance of A.soehngenii. The U.S. participants, compared to those in Europe, responded more, notably in the oral glucose tolerance tests, with a significantly improved incremental blood glucose area-under-the-curve. This potentially relates to more severe prediabetic symptoms in U.S. subjects, associated with reduced relative levels of Bifidobacterium, Coprococcus, Ruminococcus spp. and increased levels of Lachnoclostridium spp. Segmentation based on HbA1c reduction revealed a specific signature with more Bifidobacterium, Coprococcus and less Ruminiclostridium-5 spp. in the highest over the lowest responders. In conclusion, daily oral supplementation with A.soehngenii improved various markers of glycemic control, reduced HbA1c levels and diastolic blood pressure, indicating a novel microbiome-based approach to improve cardio-metabolic health in adults at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.