Bariatric surgery leads to long-term weight loss and improved health outcomes through physiological rather than mechanical mechanisms. It alters gastrointestinal signals that change the body's defended fat mass set point and regulate appetite and metabolism. Specifically, surgery modifies the luminal environment and gut microbiota composition, increasing circulating bile acids and triggering hormonal and neuronal signals that decrease hunger and food reward while increasing energy expenditure. This physiological reprogramming opposes the effects of dieting and underlies the durable benefits of bariatric procedures.
1. Obesity Series 2020
Lee Kaplan, MD, PhD, FTOS
Director
Obesity, Metabolism, and Nutrition Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital
Why is Bariatric
Surgery So Effective?
2. Obesity Series 2020
Dr. Lee Kaplan discusses the role of the
gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiota in
the mechanism of action of bariatric surgery.
Why is Bariatric
Surgery So Effective?
3. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Why is Bariatric Surgery So Effective?
Lee M. Kaplan, MD, PhD
Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital
LMKaplan@mgh.harvard.edu
December 2, 2020
Fernando Botero, 1932-
5. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Classic weight graph after calorie restriction
Svetky, et al. JAMA. 2008. PMID: 18334689
Phase 1
Acute WL
Phase 2
“Weight Maintenance”
Phase 2 Intervention
6. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Body fat mass is a physiologically-regulated phenotype
• At multiple stages during development
• Loss of baby fat
• Fat changes with puberty
• Fat changes with aging
• Fat changes with menopause
• During and after pregnancy
• Before and after hibernation
• Before and after long-distance migration (birds, butterflies)
Obesity results from inappropriate (pathophysiological) regulation of body fat mass
7. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
At most times, the body seeks a stable fat mass
Liver
Similar to other regulated tissues
Red blood cells
Physical tissue removal (resection or phlebotomy) leads to rapid regrowth
8. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Human weight perturbation protocol
Leibel et al., NEJM 1995;335:521
Percent
of
Initial
Weight
Time
120 −
110 −
100 −
90 −
80 −
70 −
wt initial
wt −10
wt −20
wt +10
Studies
Energy Expenditure
Energy Intake
Neuroendocrine Axes
Autonomic Physiology
Muscle Physiology
Brain Imaging
Dietary Restriction / Overfeeding
(No Change in Fat Mass Set Point)
9. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Fat
Mass
Set
Point
Normal Obesity
Decreased appetitive drive
Increased thermogenesis
Increased appetitive drive
Decreased thermogenesis
There must be physiological programs to
drive and coordinate these effects
Relationship to set point drives physiological response more
than set point itself
10. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
What this means …
Obesity results from a dysfunction of the normal fat
mass regulatory mechanisms …
… leading to an elevated defended body fat mass
13. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Physiological vs. counter-physiological weight loss
Fat
Mass
Increased appetitive drive
Decreased thermogenesis
Pre-treatment Short-term
Weight Loss
Defended
Fat Mass
Counter-physiological Weight Loss
(e.g., caloric restriction)
“Maintenance” Phase
Physiological
compensation
Isolated calorie restriction
14. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Physiological vs. counter-physiological weight loss
Physiological Weight Loss
(e.g., targeted lifestyle change, effective medications, surgery)
Fat
Mass
Pre-treatment Initial
Weight Loss
Defended Fat Mass
Long-term Weight Loss
(not a separate phase)
Decreased appetitive drive
Increased thermogenesis
Treatment
Initiation
15. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
GI regulation of metabolic function
Energy Balance
Metabolic Function
Nutrients
GI Tract
Gut
hormones
Efferent
neurons
Immune
Cells
Appetite, Food Reward
Energy Expenditure
Metabolic Function
Central Mechanisms
Liver
Pancreas
16. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Bariatric and metabolic surgery
Vertical
Sleeve
Gastrectomy
Roux-en-Y
Gastric
Bypass
Gastric
Adjustable
Gastric
Banding
Biliopancreatic
Diversion /
Duodenal Switch
Gastric and Intestinal
Weight-independent Metabolic Benefits
MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
17. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Long-term weight loss after bariatric surgery
Carlsson LMS et al. N Engl J Med 2020;383:1535-1543
Swedish Obesity Subjects Study
N=2010 surgical patients;
2037 matched controls
Operations
Gastric bypass 13%
Banded gastroplasty 69%
Gastric banding 18%
Average Weight Loss
1 year post-op 25%
20 years post-op 18%
18. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Protective effect of metabolic surgery on COVID-19 outcomes
45%
13%
5.2%
2.4% 2.4%
18%
0% 0% 0% 0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Hospital
Admission
ICU
Admission
Mechanical
Ventilation
Dialysis Death
Matched Controls (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2)
Prior Metabolic Surgery
Aminian A et al., Surg Obes Rel Dis 2020; epub 25 November 2020
19. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Metabolic surgery reduces mortality and extends life
Carlsson LMS et al. N Engl J Med 2020;383:1535-1543
Swedish Obesity Subjects Study
Mortality reduction 23%
Survival increase 3.0 yrs
21. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Mechanisms of bariatric surgery
Restricted food intake
Malabsorption
Classical model:
Mechanical
Altered GI signals to brain
• Endocrine
• Neuronal
Altered GI signals to other
tissues (pancreas, liver)
Current model:
Physiological
22. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Bariatric and metabolic surgery
1. Dramatic effects on hunger and satiety
2. Few patients become underweight after surgery
3. Little or no weight loss in thin patients or animals
4. Transient weight gain during pregnancy
Clinical Evidence for Physiological Mechanisms
33. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Bariatric/metabolic surgery alters the defended fat mass
Defended
Fat
Mass
Normal Obesity After
metabolic
surgery
Decreased appetitive drive
Increased thermogenesis
Increased appetitive drive
Decreased thermogenesis
34. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
If surgery worked mechanically
(restriction or malabsorption) …
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Surgery Medications Combination
… combination with medications
would be additive at most
Since surgery works
physiologically …
… complementary mechanisms
allow for synergy
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Surgery Medications Combination
35. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Postoperative pharmacotherapy augments surgical weight loss
GRAVITAS Study
Liraglutide after Gastric Bypass in T2D
0 6 10 18 26
Time (weeks)
p<0·0001
p<
0·0001
Change
in
weight
from
baseline
(kg)
2
0
- 2
- 4
- 6
- 8
Miras AD et al., Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2019; 549-559
Placebo
Liraglutide
50
40
30
20
10
0
Patients
with
≥5%
weight
loss
(%)
0 6 10 18 26
Time (weeks)
37. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Bariatric surgery illuminates GI regulation of metabolic function
CNS and Systemic Effects
Luminal Changes
(Proximal, Middle and Distal Gut)
Roux-en-Y
Gastric Bypass
Mucosal Interaction
Neuronal Immune
Hormonal
38. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Nutrients
• Lipids
• Carbohydrates
• Proteins / amino acids
Pancreatic enzymes
Bile acids
Microbiota and metabolic products
What are the luminal contributors?
Luminal Changes
(Proximal, Middle and Distal Gut)
Roux-en-Y
Gastric Bypass
Neuronal Immune
Hormonal
CNS and Systemic Effects
39. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Endoluminal regulation of metabolic function
NH2
COOH
Gastric Bypass Sleeve Gastrectomy
Hormonal Neural Immune
Bile Acids
Nutrients
Microbiota
Mucosal receptors
(for bile acids, nutrients
and bacterial products)
Mucus
• Altered nutrient flow
• Accelerated nutrient
exposure to small bowel
• Altered bile flow
• Loss of nutrient interaction
with gastric mucosa
SCFA
Metabolites
Signals
• Accelerated gastric emptying
• Accelerated nutrient
exposure to small bowel
• Loss of nutrient interaction
with gastric mucosa
Not foregut…
Not hindgut…
All of the gut participates
41. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Patti ME et al., Obesity 2009
Circulating bile acids increase after RYGB
RYGB Obesity
Over-
weight
Plasma
Bile
Acids
(μmol/L)
43. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Mice colonized with microbiota from a lean donor
Mice colonized with microbiota from an obese donor
No significant
difference in chow
consumption, initial
body fat, or initial
weight
Genetic Obesity Dietary Obesity
Turnbaugh et al., Nature 2006, Cell Host Microbe 2008
Gut microbiota can transmit adiposity
48. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
RYGB microbiota increases circulating bile acids
Mouse Recipients
of Human RYGB Microbiota
Human RYGB Patients
Tremaroli et al., Cell Metab 2015; Ahmad et al., Intl J Obes 2013
49. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Identified mechanisms of RYGB
• Decreased appetitive drive
• Altered food preference
• Increased brown/beige thermogenesis
• Signaling through MC4R and LepR
• Increased circulating bile acids
• Altered luminal bile acid pool
• Altered microbiota
• Altered circadian rhythm regulation
• Weight independent improvement in DM
• Intestinal epithelial hypertrophy
• Altered fat mass set point
• Vastly altered global metabolic physiology
57. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Effects of surgery on diabetes
• Weight loss
• Decreased nutrient intake – occurs most dramatically during the first
postoperative weeks
• Changes in GI physiology or signaling independent of weight loss and
food intake – “third mechanism”
Potential Mechanisms
62. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
RYGB has weight and diet-independent effects –
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0
100
200
300
400
500
Sham RYGB
WMSO
**
** ** **
*
*
*
*
*
*
Time (minutes)
Glucose
(mg/dl)
Carmody, Munoz et al., Am J Physiol 2016
long-term
Sham-operated (obese)
RYGB
Underfed, sham-operated to
match weight of RYGB mice
63. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Control of Diabetes
Gastric Banding Gastric Bypass
Mechanisms of diabetes improvement
Gradual effects
Weight Loss
Immediate
Control of Diabetes
X
Late (and lasting) effect
64. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Interactions of GI Metabolic Regulatory Systems
Thermogenesis
Microbiota
Bile Acids
Islet Cell Function
Mucosal
Hypertrophy
Nutrients / Metabolites Nutrients / Metabolites
Circadian Rhythms
Luminal Extra-Luminal
Appetitive Drives
65. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
The powerful physiological effects of bariatric
surgery highlight the critical role of the GI tract in
regulating diverse metabolic functions (including
energy balance).
The many cellular and molecular mechanisms of
these GI-based regulatory processes are only now
beginning to be understood.
A complex system
> 25 known appetite-regulating peptides
x
6 short-chain fatty acids
x
100 bile acids
x
> 600 bile acid binding proteins
x
6 sites of bile acid action
x
6 mucins
x
5000 nutrients and metabolites
x
8000 bacterial strains
x
Unknown number of unique substrains and genes
= Astounding complexity (> 130 quadrillion possibilities)
(we are nowhere near replacing bariatric surgery!)
66. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
No one mechanism appears to dominate the others …
For example, evidence to date suggests that
changes in the microbiota account for no more
than 20% of the weight loss effect of surgery
67. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Conclusions 1 – neither restriction nor malabsorption
• The true metabolic effectiveness of bariatric surgery appears to reside in its
physiological effects
• Mechanical effects (e.g., restriction or malabsorption) are much less important
• In the absence of profound weight loss (>15-20%), weight loss-independent
metabolic effects are particularly important
68. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Conclusions 2 – the gut rules
• Bariatric surgery has demonstrated a critical role of the gut in regulating
metabolic function and energy
• This observation has revealed new therapeutic opportunities for treating
obesity, type 2 diabetes and other obesity complications, using either surgery
itself or “surgicomimetic” therapy
• It has also reinforced the importance of GI targets for effective
pharmacological treatment of obesity and diabetes
• GLP-1 agonists
• Amylin agonists
• DPP-4 inhibitors
69. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Conclusions 3 – evolving mechanistic understanding
• Our understanding of how bariatric surgery works – and thus the role of
the GI tract in metabolic regulation – has evolved:
• Mechanical
• Physiological – overdriving the causative pathophysiology
• Integration with critical physiological “chokepoints” – dependent on functional
regulatory system (e.g., MC4R, LepR, circadian oscillator)
• Global influence on GI-metabolic physiology – widespread, broad-based effects
that influence multiple known mechanisms, leading to a change in metabolic set
points
• Little evidence for isolated, parallel mechanisms
• Each observed mechanism appears integrated with many others
• Few or no “high value” therapeutic targets yet identified
70. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Conclusions 4 – bariatric is metabolic
• Obesity is a metabolic disease (always)
• Whether driven by behavior, environment, genetics, or your mother…
… the final common pathway of obesity (excess fat) is physiological (i.e.,
metabolic)
• Effective bariatric surgery is therefore metabolic surgery …
… even when used for obesity alone
… it causes weight loss by the same mechanisms by which it improves diabetes or
fatty liver disease
71. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Conclusions 5 – looking forward
• The initial goal of identifying both causes and effective treatments of
obesity and metabolic disorders through understanding of metabolic surgery
remains intact …
… but the pharmacological replacement for surgery is less
straightforward than initially imagined
• Nonetheless, understanding the mechanisms of surgery will reveal important
clues about GI regulation of metabolic biology, helping to understand the
coordination among different components of these essential homeostatic
control systems
72. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
The powerful physiological effects of bariatric surgery highlight
the critical role of the GI tract in regulating diverse metabolic
functions (including energy balance).
The many cellular and molecular mechanisms of these GI-based
regulatory processes are only now beginning to be understood.
Take-home message
73. MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Why is Bariatric Surgery So Effective?
Lee M. Kaplan, MD, PhD
Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital
LMKaplan@mgh.harvard.edu
December 2, 2020
Fernando Botero, 1932-
74. Obesity Series 2020
Lee Kaplan, MD, PhD, FTOS
Director
Obesity, Metabolism, and Nutrition Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital
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