{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,25]],"date-time":"2026-10-25T02:26:55Z","timestamp":1792895215284,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,26]],"date-time":"2023-07-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1690329600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"JSPS KAKENHI","award":["20K05929"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20K05929"]}]},{"name":"Takeda Science Foundation","award":["20K05929"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20K05929"]}]},{"name":"Tojuro Iijima Foundation for Food Science and Technology","award":["20K05929"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20K05929"]}]},{"name":"Kanamori Foundation","award":["20K05929"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20K05929"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a commonly used dispersant for oral administration of hydrophobic agents. PEG is partly absorbed in the small intestine, and the unabsorbed fraction reaches the large intestine; thus, oral administration of PEG may impact the gut microbial community. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study evaluated the effects of PEG on gut commensal bacteria. Herein, we aimed to determine whether oral administration of PEG modifies the gut microbiota. Administration of PEG400 and PEG4000 altered gut microbial diversity in a concentration-dependent manner. Taxonomic analysis revealed that Akkermansia muciniphila and particularly Parabacteroides goldsteinii were overrepresented in mice administered with 40% PEG. PEG400 administration ameliorated the high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and adipose tissue inflammation. Fecal microbiome transplantation from PEG400-administered donors counteracted the HFD-induced body and epididymal adipose tissue weight gain, indicating that PEG400-associated bacteria are responsible for the anti-obesity effect. Conversely, carboxymethyl cellulose, also used as a dispersant, did not affect the abundance of these two bacterial species or HFD-induced obesity. In conclusion, we demonstrated that oral administration of a high concentration of PEG400 (40%) alters the gut microbiota composition and ameliorates HFD-induced obesity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11081882","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,26]],"date-time":"2023-07-26T01:03:25Z","timestamp":1690333405000},"page":"1882","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Effect of Oral Administration of Polyethylene Glycol 400 on Gut Microbiota Composition and Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Riko","family":"Ishibashi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rio","family":"Matsuhisa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mio","family":"Nomoto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seita","family":"Chudan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Kurokawa 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miyu","family":"Nishikawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Kurokawa 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6007-6176","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yoshiaki","family":"Tabuchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Molecular Genetics Research, Life Science Research Center, University of Toyama, Sugitani 930-0194, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shinichi","family":"Ikushiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Kurokawa 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5754-5357","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yoshinori","family":"Nagai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6020-6965","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yukihiro","family":"Furusawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, 5180 Kurokawa, Imizu 939-0398, Toyama, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2435","DOI":"10.1039\/C6RA26284H","article-title":"Polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) affects the systemic exposure of oral drugs based on multiple mechanisms: Taking berberine as an example","volume":"7","author":"Ma","year":"2017","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E40","DOI":"10.1208\/ps040440","article-title":"An in vitro examination of the impact of polyethylene glycol 400, Pluronic P85, and vitamin E d-alpha-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate on P-glycoprotein efflux and enterocyte-based metabolism in excised rat intestine","volume":"4","author":"Johnson","year":"2002","journal-title":"AAPS Pharm. 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