17,18,20 Interestingly, Bacteroides OTU0003 shares 99.21% similarity to Bacteroides acidifaciens, treatment with B. acidifaciens has been reported to prevent the development of obesity and improve insulin sensitivity, and energy metabolism in mice fed a high fat diet.27 This aligns with findings from our previous study26 where these mice displayed an overall sensitivity to caloric intake and were generally overweight compared to controls. Here, INS is linked to obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.