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Intervention with kimchi microbial community ameliorates obesity by regulating gut microbiota

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate anti-obesity effects of kimchi microbial community (KMC) on obesity and gut microbiota using a high fat diet-induced mouse model compared to effects of a single strain. Administration of KMC decreased body weight, adipose tissue, and liver weight gains. Relative content of Muribaculaceae in the gut of the KMC-treated group was higher than that in the high-fat diet (HFD) group whereas relative contents of Akkermansiaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, and Erysipelotrichaceae were lower in KMC-treated group. Metabolic profile of blood was found to change differently according to the administration of KMC and a single strain of Lactobacillus plantarum. Serum metabolites significantly increased in the HFD group but decreased in the KMC-treated group included arachidic acid, stearic acid, fumaric acid, and glucose, suggesting that the administration of KMC could influence energy metabolism. The main genus in KMC was not detected in guts of mice in KMC-treated group. Since the use of KMC has advantages in terms of safety, it has potential to improve gut microbial community for obese people.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (No. 2019R1C1C1002208).

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Korean Medicine, Dongshin University, Naju, 58245, Republic of Korea

    Seong-Eun Park, Seung-Ho Seo, Eun-Ju Kim & Hong-Seok Son

  2. AccuGene Inc., Incheon, 22006, Republic of Korea

    Sun Jae Kwon & Kwang-Moon Cho

  3. Faculty of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, SARI Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Tatsuya Unno

  4. Department of Nursing, Dongshin University, Naju, 58245, Republic of Korea

    So-Hyeon Bok & Dae-Hun Park

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  1. Seong-Eun Park
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Park, SE., Kwon, S.J., Cho, KM. et al. Intervention with kimchi microbial community ameliorates obesity by regulating gut microbiota. J Microbiol. 58, 859–867 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-020-0266-2

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