{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:22:33Z","timestamp":1787026953396,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769126400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100017607","name":"Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["JCYJ20220530145017038"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20220530145017038"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100017607","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100017607","name":"Shenzhen Fundamental Research Program","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["JCYJ20230807110417036"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JCYJ20230807110417036"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100017607","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021171","name":"Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022A1515220096"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022A1515220096"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021171","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n Caloric restriction facilitates weight loss and metabolic improvement, in part by altering the gut microbiota. However, its influence via the tongue coating microbiota and gut microbiota remains largely unexplored.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n To address this gap, we conducted a single-center, prospective, controlled study from 23 April to 5 July 2021, enrolling 48 participants with a body mass index (BMI)\u202f\u2265\u202f24\u202fkg\/m\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n . Participants were assigned to either a 7-day modified fasting group (550\u202fkcal\/day,\n n<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f35) or a control group (\n n<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f13) based on their personal preference.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n In the fasting group, body weight decreased by 4.0\u202f\u00b1\u202f1.6\u202fkg (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.01), BMI decreased by 1.51\u202f\u00b1\u202f0.58 (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.01), significantly, accompanied by marked improvements in blood glucose and lipid profiles (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.05). 16S rRNA sequencing of tongue coating and fecal samples revealed distinct microbial alterations between groups. In the tongue microbiota,\n Haemophilus<\/jats:italic>\n was reduced, while\n Prevotella<\/jats:italic>\n and\n Actinomyces<\/jats:italic>\n were enriched, along with suppression of nucleotide synthesis and glycolysis pathways. In the gut microbiota,\n Bacteroides<\/jats:italic>\n decreased, and\n Clostridia<\/jats:italic>\n increased, with significant upregulation of gluconeogenesis and branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathways (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.05). Notably, specific taxa such as\n Haemophilus<\/jats:italic>\n and\n Granulicatella<\/jats:italic>\n were positively correlated with body weight and BMI (r\u202f&gt;\u202f0.4,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.05).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Discussion<\/jats:title>\n These findings suggest that MFT improves metabolic outcomes by reshaping the taxonomic composition and possible functional capabilities of the tongue coating and gut microbiota in overweight and obese individuals. However, these findings should be interpreted in the context of the limitations of the study, including its non-randomized design and the preliminary nature of the gut microbiome analysis due to a small sample size.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Clinical trial registration<\/jats:title>\n \n http:\/\/www.chictr.org.cn\/<\/jats:uri>\n , identifier ChiCTR2100047532.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2025.1686416","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T22:53:43Z","timestamp":1769208823000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Effects of modified fasting therapy on tongue coating and gut microbiome in overweight and obese adults: a controlled clinical trial"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Dongkai","family":"Zeng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tingying","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunling","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiahao","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziheng","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jin","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taoli","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Global 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