Journal of Obesity

Research Article

Are Nonnutritive Sweeteners Obesogenic? Associations between Diet, Faecal Microbiota, and Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Morbidly Obese Subjects

Table 4

The total, direct, and indirect (mediated) effects of NNSs on faecal SCFA. The results are presented for the SCFA that were statistically significantly associated with NNSs, and the indirect (mediated) effects are shown for the bacterial groups and species significantly associated with NNSs.


Dependent variable	Mediator	Total effect of NNS B (95% CI), value	Direct effect of NNS B (95% CI), value	Indirect effect via mediator B (95% CI)

Butyric acid	Dysbiosis Index	−0.159 (−0.281 to −0.037), 0.011	−0.148 (−0.279 to −0.016), 0.029	−0.011 (−0.061 to 0.033)
Butyric acid	Alternative Dysbiosis Index	−0.159 (−0.281 to −0.037), 0.011	−0.159 (−0.289 to −0.029), 0.016	0.000 (−0.040 to 0.049)
Butyric acid	Faecalibacterium prausnitzii	−0.159 (−0.281 to −0.037), 0.011	−0.176 (−0.303 to −0.049), 0.007	0.017 (−0.022 to 0.073)
Butyric acid	Bacteroides fragilis	−0.159 (−0.281 to −0.037), 0.011	−0.149 (−0.281 to −0.017), 0.027	−0.010 (−0.051 to 0.024)
Butyric acid	Ruminococcus gnavus	−0.159 (−0.281 to −0.037), 0.011	−0.162 (−0.292 to −0.031), 0.016	0.003 (−0.023 to 0.048)
Butyric acid	Streptococcus spp.	−0.159 (−0.281 to −0.037), 0.011	−0.152 (−0.282 to −0.023), 0.022	−0.006 (−0.034 to 0.018)
Valeric acid	Dysbiosis Index	−0.022 (−0.043 to −0.002), 0.029	−0.025 (−0.046 to −0.003), 0.027	0.002 (−0.004 to 0.010)
Valeric acid	Alternative Dysbiosis Index	−0.022 (−0.043 to −0.002), 0.029	−0.022 (−0.044 to −0.001), 0.045	−0.001 (−0.008 to 0.008)
Valeric acid	Faecalibacterium prausnitzii	−0.022 (−0.043 to −0.002), 0.029	−0.029 (−0.050 to −0.009), 0.006	0.007 (−0.001 to 0.018)
Valeric acid	Bacteroides fragilis	−0.022 (−0.043 to −0.002), 0.029	−0.022 (−0.044 to −0.001), 0.046	−0.000 (−0.008 to 0.008)
Valeric acid	Ruminococcus gnavus	−0.022 (−0.043 to −0.002), 0.029	−0.020 (−0.041 to 0.002), 0.069	−0.003 (−0.010 to 0.006)
Valeric acid	Streptococcus spp.	−0.022 (−0.043 to −0.002), 0.029	−0.023 (−0.045 to −0.002), 0.032	−0.001 (−0.003 to 0.007)