ABSTRACT

Chronic low-grade inflammation associated with obesity may be a target for improvement of metabolic health. Some exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing bacteria have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects in gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions. However, evidence for the role of EPS-producing probiotics in the management of obesity and associated conditions is scarce and the role of the microbiota is unclear. In this study, two probiotic candidates were screened for their effects on metabolic health using the diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model.

Mice fed a high-fat diet supplemented with the anti-inflammatory, EPS-producing strain L. casei LC-XCAL™ showed significantly reduced hepatic triglycerides, hepatic total cholesterol, and fat pad weight compared to those fed a high-fat diet alone, likely as a result of reduced energy absorption from food. 16-S rRNA amplicon analysis of the fecal microbiota of these mice indicated that the altered metabolic phenotype as a result of the L. casei LC-XCAL strain administration was not associated with an overall change in the composition or inferred functional capacity of the fecal microbiota despite some abundance changes in individual taxa and functions.

These findings provide evidence that specific microbial strategies can improve metabolic health independent of the microbiome and reinforce the importance of carefully selecting the most appropriate strain for specific indications by thorough screening programmes.

摘要

与肥胖相关的慢性低度炎症可能是改善代谢健康的目标。一些产胞外多糖 (EPS) 的细菌已被证明在胃肠道炎症中具有抗炎作用。然而，关于产生 EPS 的益生菌在肥胖和相关疾病管理中的作用的证据很少，微生物群的作用尚不清楚。在这项研究中，使用饮食诱导肥胖 (DIO) 小鼠模型筛选了两种候选益生菌对代谢健康的影响。

与单独喂食高脂肪饮食的小鼠相比，喂食高脂肪饮食并辅以产生 EPS 的抗炎菌株L. casei LC-XCAL ™的小鼠的肝脏甘油三酯、肝脏总胆固醇和脂肪垫重量显着降低，可能是由于从食物中吸收的能量减少。对这些小鼠粪便微生物群的 16-S rRNA 扩增子分析表明，由于L. casei LC-XCAL 菌株给药导致的代谢表型改变与粪便微生物群的组成或推断的功能能力的整体变化无关尽管个体分类群和功能发生了一些丰富的变化。

这些发现提供的证据表明，特定的微生物策略可以独立于微生物组改善代谢健康，并强调通过彻底的筛选计划为特定适应症仔细选择最合适的菌株的重要性。