The Pediatric Obesity Microbiome and Metabolism Study (POMMS): Methods, Baseline Data, and Early Insights.

Objective: The objective of the Pediatric Obesity Metabolism and Microbiome Study is to establish a longitudinal cohort of adolescents with obesity enrolled in weight management, and collect comprehensive clinical data and biologic specimens to inform future research.Methods: We enrolled 223 youth aged 10-18 years with Body Mass Index >= 95th, into an observational treatment study, along with 71 matched healthy weight participants control adolescents. We collected repeated measures of clinical data, fasting serum, and fecal samples over 6 months. Here we present study design, data collection methods, and an interim analysis including targeted serum metabolite measurements and fecal 16S amplicon sequencing to report microbiome diversity comparing obese (n=27) and healthy weight (n=27) participants.Results: Adolescents with obesity have higher serum alanine aminotransferase, c-reactive protein, glycated hemoglobin, and lower high density lipoprotein when compared with healthy weight controls. Targeted metabolomics revealed significant differences in branched chain amino acid related metaboliltes as well as differential abundance of specific microbial taxa and lower species diversity among adolescents with obesity when compared with the healthy weight group.