Abstract

The gut microbiome impacts metabolic homeostasis, and several inflammatory pathologies including obesity, glucose intolerance, and worsened cardiovascular disease outcomes are associated with an altered gut microbiome. We have previously demonstrated Bifidobacterium animalis lactis 420 ([B420], a probiotic) attenuates myocardial infarct injury in mice following ischemic reperfusion (IR) injury. Further, Oligofructose ([OFS], a prebiotic) improves glucose tolerance, and reduces weight gain in high-fat-diet (HFD) mice. However, the combined ability of B420 and OFS (a synbiotic) on cardiovascular and metabolic disease is unknown. We hypothesized that short-term (2 weeks) synbiotic treatment improves adiposity and glucose tolerance and reduces IR infarct size in HFD fed male mice more than prebiotic or probiotic treatments alone. Adult male mice were fed HFD (45% fat) for 2 weeks and were then treated with OFS (10microliters/gram weight, 200miligram OFS/ 300microliters saline), B420 (10microliters/gram weight, 10 9 CFU/ 300microliters saline), or B420+OFS (synbiotic treatment) via daily gavage for 2 weeks. Following treatment mice underwent an IR protocol, (45-minute ligation followed by reperfusion). Oral glucose tolerance tests were conducted prior to and after treatment to determine blood glucose. Fasted mice were gavaged with glucose (2.5g/kg glucose) and blood glucose was measured over 120 minutes. Body weight, and kcal intake were measured weekly. Upon sacrifice epididymal fat mas was weighed to determine adiposity. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA or T-test. We found that short-term synbiotic treatment with B420+OFS during HFD-feeding reduced adiposity and improved glucose tolerance, while probiotic or prebiotic treatment alone had no effect. However, short-term treatment, including synbiotic, did not significantly reduce heart infarct size as previously demonstrated with longer treatment periods. Taken together, these results suggest that synbiotic treatment improves metabolic impairments more rapidly than B420 or OFS alone, and precedes improvements in infarct size.

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