{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,16]],"date-time":"2026-03-16T14:55:46Z","timestamp":1773672946194,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,14]],"date-time":"2026-03-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773446400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003725","name":"Korean government","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022R1A2C1005235"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022R1A2C1005235"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003725","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: This exploratory study (n = 6 per group) investigated the associations between supplementation with \u03b1-lipoic acid (AL), betaine (BT), and L-carnitine (LC) and gut microbiota composition in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mouse model. Methods: Four-week-old male C57BL\/6J mice were fed a control diet (10% fat), HFD (60% fat), or HFD supplemented with AL, BT, or LC (300 mg\/kg BW\/day) for nine weeks. Results: All three compounds were associated with shifts in microbial composition compared to the HFD-only group. While AL and BT supplementation moderately modulated specific Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes taxa, LC supplementation was linked to a more pronounced reduction in the Firmicutes\/Bacteroidetes ratio and a decreased abundance of genera such as Christensenellaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Coprococcus 3. These microbial changes were correlated with obesity-related metabolic and adiposity markers, including leptin and lipid parameters. Furthermore, functional profiling via PICRUSt suggested potential alterations in amino acid metabolism; however, these findings represent inferred metabolic potential rather than direct metagenomic measurements. Conclusions: Collectively, these results indicate differential associations between dietary supplementation and gut microbiota composition in HFD-fed mice. Although this study was conducted within an exploratory framework and utilized a modest sample size, the observed microbial shifts consistently paralleled metabolic alterations, supporting biologically plausible associations that warrant further mechanistic investigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18060925","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,16]],"date-time":"2026-03-16T13:32:07Z","timestamp":1773667927000},"page":"925","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effect of Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Betaine, and L-Carnitine Supplementation on Gut Microbiota and Obesity Biomarkers in Mice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9384-6720","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hye-Jin","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Center for Food and Bioconvergence, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jongbin","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Soomin","family":"Oh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dongwook","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6959-9790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hee-Jin","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Pyeongchang 25342, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2109-3798","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cheorun","family":"Jo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Center for Food and Bioconvergence, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6475-2012","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eun Bae","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aera","family":"Jang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Animal Science, College of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104061","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jff.2020.104061","article-title":"Caffeic acid reduces body weight by regulating gut microbiota in diet-induced obese mice","volume":"74","author":"Xu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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