Synthetic composition for treating metabolic disorders

1. A method comprising:

administering to an obese non-infant human during a treatment period an effective amount of a mixture consisting of the synthetic neutral human milk oligosaccharides 2′-fucosyllactose (“2′-FL”) and lacto-N-neotetraose (“LNnT”), and optionally one or more excipients;

increasing in the gastrointestinal microbiota of the non-infant human during the treatment period, the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium adolescentis ; and

reducing in the non-infant human during the treatment period, a precursor condition for a metabolic disorder associated with development of one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, the precursor condition selected from gut permeability, metabolic endotoxemia, low-grade metabolic inflammation, and body fat percentage.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reduced precursor condition for the metabolic disorder associated with development of the one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is reduced gut permeability.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reduced precursor condition for the metabolic disorder associated with development of the one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is reduced metabolic endotoxemia.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reduced precursor condition for the metabolic disorder associated with development of the one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is low-grade metabolic inflammation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the precursor condition for a metabolic disorder associated with development of one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is body fat percentage.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising increasing, in the gastrointestinal tract of the non-infant human, a level of glucagon-like peptide-1 (“GLP-1”) relative to the level of GLP-1 prior to administering the mixture consisting of 2′-FL and LNnT.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising increasing in the gastrointestinal tract of the non-infant human, a level of glucagon-like peptide-2 (“GLP-2”) relative to the level of GLP-2 prior to administering the mixture consisting of 2′-FL and LNnT.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the effective amount of the mixture consisting of 2′-FL and LNnT is from about 1 g to about 7.5 g daily.

9. A method comprising:

orally administering to a non-infant human during an initial treatment phase an effective amount in unit dosage form of a mixture consisting of the synthetic neutral human milk oligosaccharides 2′-fucosyllactose (“2′-FL”) and lacto-N-neotetraose (“LNnT”), and one or more excipients;

increasing in the gastrointestinal microbiota of the non-infant human during the initial treatment phase, the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium adolescentis ; and

reducing in the non-infant human during the initial treatment phase, a precursor condition for a metabolic disorder associated with development of one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, the precursor condition being selected from gut permeability, metabolic endotoxemia, low-grade metabolic inflammation, and body fat percentage.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the effective amount of the of 2′-FL and LNnT administered in the mixture is from 1 g to 10 g per day during the initial treatment phase.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the initial treatment phase is up to 8 weeks.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising reducing the effective amount of the 2′-FL and LNnT administered in the mixture to from 0.5 g to 5 g per day during a maintenance treatment phase following the initial treatment phase.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reduced precursor condition for the metabolic disorder associated with development of the one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is gut permeability.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reduced precursor condition for the metabolic disorder associated with development of the one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is metabolic endotoxemia.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reduced precursor condition for the metabolic disorder associated with development of the one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is low-grade metabolic inflammation.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the precursor condition for a metabolic disorder associated with development of one or more of obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is body fat percentage.

17. The method of claim 9 , further comprising increasing in the gastrointestinal tract of the non-infant human levels of glucagon-like peptide-1 (“GLP-1”) relative to levels of GLP-1 prior to administering the mixture consisting of 2′-FL and LNnT.

18. The method of claim 9 , further comprising increasing in the gastrointestinal tract of the non-infant human, a level of glucagon-like peptide-2 (“GLP-2”) relative to the level of GLP-2 prior to administering the mixture consisting of 2′-FL and LNnT.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein the effective amount of 2′-FL and LNnT in the mixture is from about 1 g to about 10 g per day.

20. A method comprising:

administering to a non-infant human during a treatment period an effective amount in a unit dosage form of a mixture consisting of the synthetic neutral human milk oligosaccharides 2′-fucosyllactose (“2′-FL”) and lacto-N-neotetraose (“LNnT”), and one or more excipients suitable for producing the unit dosage form, wherein the non-infant human is a prepubescent child between 5 and 10 years of age;

increasing in the gastrointestinal microbiota of the non-infant human during the treatment period, the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium adolescentis ; and

reducing in the non-infant human during the treatment period, a precursor condition associated with development of one or more of obesity, obesity-induced pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, wherein the reduced precursor condition comprises body fat percentage and is reduced relative to the body fat percentage prior to administering the mixture consisting of 2′-FL and LNnT to the non-infant human.