"A new study finds that a noninvasive electromagnetic brain stimulation technique helps obese people lose weight partly by changing the composition of their intestinal bacteriathe socalled gut microbiota. Results of the technique called deep transcranial magnetic stimulation dTMS will be presented Sunday at ENDO  the Endocrine Societys th annual meeting in Orlando Fla. This study expands on the researchers previous finding that dTMS reduced food cravings and induced weight loss in obese individuals. Unlike deep brain stimulation dTMS does not need an operation or implantation of electrodes. Instead an electromagnetic coil is placed on the scalp and sends magnetic pulses to stimulate specific deep regions of the brain. Currently approved in the U.S. for treating major depression dTMS is being studied in some countries for the treatment of other neuropsychiatric disorders especially addiction. We need new safe and effective therapies for obesity said principal investigator Livio Luzi M.D. professor and head of endocrinology at the IRCCS Policlinico San Donato and the University of Milan in Milan Italy. Despite numerous preventive and therapeutic interventions none has stopped obesity from reaching epidemic proportions. An underlying cause of obesity may be an impaired gut microbiota composition an imbalance in the complex mix of beneficial and harmful microorganisms that inhabit the digestive tract. Luzi said scientists now know that an impaired gut microbiota can alter the brains signals for appetite and satiety or fullness. He and his coworkers studied whether dTMS could improve the gut microbiota composition in obese persons and if so by what underlying mechanisms. In their study funded by the Italian Ministry of Health the investigators recruited three men and  women ages  to  with obesity as shown by a body mass index BMI of  to  kgm. They randomly assigned the study subjects to two groups for five weeks to receive  sessionsthree times per weekof either dTMS to the insula and prefrontal cortex deep in the brain or a sham stimulation as a control. Before and at the end of treatment subjects provided stool samples for microbiota analysis.  The research team also measured blood levels of glucose sugar insulin pituitary gland hormones and neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine. Pituitary hormones play a key role in regulating appetite and recent research shows that norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters affect microbiota composition Luzi said.  After five weeks of treatment subjects receiving dTMS lost more than  percent of their body weight and more than  percent of their fatsignificantly more than controls did Luzi reported. Results of the fecal analysis demonstrated that after five weeks dTMStreated subjects had greatly increased quantities of several beneficial bacterial species with antiinflammatory properties such as are found in healthy people. The control group however had no clinically relevant alterations in their microbiota composition Luzi said. He also reported that changes in the abundance of other bacterial species correlated with improvement of metabolic and hormonal parameters including glucose insulin several pituitary hormones and norepinephrine. These changes suggest a beneficial effect of dTMS on both weight loss and change in microbiota composition Luzi said. Our research shows the innovative ability of dTMS in exerting antiobesity effects through alteration of the gutbrain axis.  Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time from diabetes and obesity to infertility bone health and hormonerelated cancers. The Endocrine Society is the worlds oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormonerelated conditions.  The Society has more than  members including scientists physicians educators nurses and students in  countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology visit our site at http Follow us on Twitter at TheEndoSociety httpstwitter.comtheendosocietylangen and EndoMedia httpstwitter.comEndoMedia."