Microstructural changes in human ingestive behavior after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass during liquid meals

BACKGROUNDRoux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) decreases energy intake and is, therefore, an effective treatment of obesity. The behavioral bases of the decreased calorie intake remain to be elucidated. We applied the methodology of microstructural analysis of meal intake to establish the behavioral features of ingestion in an effort to discern the various controls of feeding as a function of RYGB.METHODSThe ingestive microstructure of a standardized liquid meal in a cohort of 11 RYGB patients, in 10 patients with obesity, and in 10 healthy-weight adults was prospectively assessed from baseline to 1 year with a custom-designed drinkometer. Statistics were performed on log-transformed ratios of change from baseline so that each participant served as their own control, and proportional increases and decreases were numerically symmetrical. Data-driven (3 seconds) and additional burst pause criteria (1 and 5 seconds) were used.RESULTSAt baseline, the mean meal size (909.2 versus 557.6 kCal), burst size (28.8 versus 17.6 mL), and meal duration (433 versus 381 seconds) differed between RYGB patients and healthy-weight controls, whereas suck volume (5.2 versus 4.6 mL) and number of bursts (19.7 versus 20.1) were comparable. At 1 year, the ingestive differences between the RYGB and healthy-weight groups disappeared due to significantly decreased burst size (P = 0.008) and meal duration (P = 0.034) after RYGB. The first-minute intake also decreased after RYGB (P = 0.022).CONCLUSIONRYGB induced dynamic changes in ingestive behavior over the first postoperative year. While the eating pattern of controls remained stable, RYGB patients reduced their meal size by decreasing burst size and meal duration, suggesting that increased postingestive sensibility may mediate postbariatric ingestive behavior.TRIAL REGISTRATIONNCT03747445; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03747445.FUNDINGThis work was supported by the University of Zurich, the Swiss National Fund (32003B_182309), and the Olga Mayenfisch Foundation. Balint File was supported by the Hungarian Brain Research Program Grant (grant no. 2017-1.2.1-NKP-2017-00002).