Effects of two Lactobacillus strains on lipid metabolism and intestinal microflora in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Nian Fu¹  Zheng-Gen Wang²  Jun-Wen Yang³  Ning Xie³  Yi Cui³  Chun-Lian Wang³  Xue-Hong Wang³  Fang-Gen Lu³  Xiao-Wei Liu³  Xin Zhao³  Ya-Ni Yin³  Yong Tang⁴ 

[1] Department of Gastroenterology, Nanhua Hospital, Nanhua University, 421002, Hengyang, Hunan Province, China;Department of Gastroenterology, Nanhua Second Hospital, Nanhua University, 421001, Hengyang, Hunan Province, China;Department of Gastroenterology, Xiangya Second Hospital, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, Hunan Province, P.R. China;State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Central South University, 410011, Changsha, Hunan Province, China;

关键词: Bile Acid;    Lactobacillus;    Lactic Acid Bacterium;    Model Group;    White Adipose Tissue;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-11-53

 received in 2011-03-06, accepted in 2011-07-03,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe hypocholesterolemic effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have now become an area of great interest and controversy for many scientists. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum 9-41-A and Lactobacillus fermentum M1-16 on body weight, lipid metabolism and intestinal microflora of rats fed a high-cholesterol diet.MethodsForty rats were assigned to four groups and fed either a normal or a high-cholesterol diet. The LAB-treated groups received the high-cholesterol diet supplemented with Lactobacillus plantarum 9-41-A or Lactobacillus fermentum M1-16. The rats were sacrificed after a 6-week feeding period. Body weights, visceral organ and fat pad weights, serum and liver cholesterol and lipid levels, and fecal cholesterol and bile acid concentrations were measured. Liver lipid deposition and adipocyte size were evaluated histologically.ResultsCompared with rats fed a high-cholesterol diet but without LAB supplementation, serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides levels were significantly decreased in LAB-treated rats (p < 0.05), with no significant change in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Hepatic cholesterol and triglyceride levels and liver lipid deposition were significantly decreased in the LAB-treated groups (p < 0.05). Accordingly, both fecal cholesterol and bile acids levels were significantly increased after LAB administration (p < 0.05). Intestinal Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium colonies were increased while Escherichia coli colonies were decreased in the LAB-treated groups. Fecal water content was higher in the LAB-treated groups. Compared with rats fed a high-cholesterol diet, administration of Lactobacillus plantarum 9-41-A resulted in decreases in the body weight gain, liver and fat pad weight, and adipocytes size (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThis study suggests that LAB supplementation has hypocholesterolemic effects in rats fed a high-cholesterol diet. The ability to lower serum cholesterol varies among LAB strains. Our strains might be able to improve the intestinal microbial balance and potentially improve intestinal transit time. Although the mechanism is largely unknown, L. plantarum 9-41-A may play a role in fat metabolism.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Xie et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.