Weight Loss Benefits of Rifaximin in an Intermittent Fasting Diet

The epidemic of overweight and obese patients presents a major challenge in chronic disease prevention and overall health across the world. Since the beginning of this century, it is considered the third most important hazard attributable to burden of disease with approximately 350 million obese people (BMI ≥30.0) and over 1 billion overweight people (BMI ≥ 25) in the world. Mechanistic studies have indicated that the microbiota influences energy utilization from the diet and influences host genes that regulate energy expenditure and storage. Thus, it is proposed that alterations in gut microbiota may play a significant role in weight loss potential. This study seeks to expand on this idea by evaluating whether the incorporation of Rifaximin in an intermittent fasting (IF) diet plays a significant role in weight loss. Rifaximin is a nonsystemic antibiotic that works primarily in the gut to inhibit bacterial growth. It portrays unique eubiotic properties that induces a positive modulation of gut microbiota, favoring the growth of bacteria beneficial to the host without altering overall composition. Thus we propose an agent such as rifaximin would be essential in developing a positively altered gut microbiome. Based on studies evaluating Rifaximin's role in positive gut modification, we propose that this can play a critical role in weight loss. Rifaximin may be associated with weight loss as it exerts effects that increases the concentration of bacteria more prominent in lean individuals. The choice of incorporating an intermittent fasting (IF) diet, stems from its success in prior studies. By incorporating periods of voluntary abstinence from food and drink, an IF diet has shown short term weight loss among overweight and obese people. We propose that an IF diet with an antibiotic, like Rifaximin, will create more positive alteration in gut microbiota that creates a greater potential for weight loss overall. A group of subjects with BMI's ranging from 30-35 will b