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A short-chain fatty acid propionate powder may boost satiety and help prevent weight gain, researchers found.

In a proof-of-concept study, patients who added the ingredient to a normal diet gained less weight during a 24-week study compared with those who only added the typical dietary fiber inulin to their meals, , of Imperial College London, and colleagues .

"This small, proof-of-principle study shows encouraging signs that supplementing one's diet with the ingredient we've developed prevents weight gain in overweight people," Frost said in a statement. "You need to eat it regularly to have an effect. We're exploring what kinds of foods it could be added to, but something like bread or fruit smoothies might work well."

Propionate is normally produced when dietary fiber is digested in the gut. Frost and colleagues developed inulin-propionate ester (IPE) to deliver larger quantities of propionate to the colon than can be acquired in the diet.

Their study involved a series of experiments. First, they found that their propionate compound stimulated the release of the appetite-suppressing hormones PYY and GLP-1 from colonic cells in vitro, to concentrations of 200 and 400 mmol/L, respectively.

Next, they randomized 20 participants to a pre-meal dose of either inulin alone, or to their propionate compound before allowing them to eat as much as they wanted from a buffet.

Those given propionate ate 14% less than those given inulin (mean 1,175 kcal versus 1,013 kcal) and had higher serum concentrations of PYY and GLP-1, the researchers reported.

Finally, they enrolled 60 overweight patients in a 24-week study. Half were given propionate powder to put in their food, while the others were given inulin.

Frost and colleagues found that those mixing in propionate powder gained less weight than those taking inulin: a significantly smaller portion gained more than 3% of body weight during the 24 weeks of the study (4% versus 25%, P=0.036).

None of the propionate patients gained more than 5% of body weight compared with 17% in inulin group, they added.

Propionate patients also had less abdominal and liver fat compared with inulin patients, the researchers said.

"These studies provide the first direct evidence that colonic propionate can acutely reduce energy intake and prevent long-term weight gain in humans," they wrote. "Optimum delivery of propionate to the colon through selection of propiogenic components of the diet may represent a novel route to improve weight management at the population level."

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