Fermented Dairy Foods: Impact on Intestinal Microbiota and Health-Linked Biomarkers.

S González,C G De Los Reyes-Gavilán,N Salazar,S Arboleya,T Fernández-Navarro,M Gueimonde

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01046

Abstract

The intake of fermented foods is gaining increasing interest due to their health-promoting benefits. Among them, fermented dairy foods have been associated with obesity prevention, and reduction of the risk of metabolic disorders and immune-related pathologies. Fermented foods could lead to these health benefits by providing the consumer with both easily metabolizable nutrients and beneficial microorganisms. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between the consumption of fermented dairy products and the intestinal microbiota, serum lipid profile, and the pro-oxidant/inflammatory status. 130 healthy adults were evaluated. Dietary fermented food intake was assessed by an annual food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), including 26 fermented dairy products. Levels of the major phylogenetic types of the intestinal microbiota were determined by qPCR, and concentration of fecal short chain fatty acids were assessed by gas chromatography. Serum glucose and lipid profile, as well as serum malondialdehyde (MDA), C-reactive protein (CRP), and leptin levels were determined by standardized protocols. Among fermented dairy foods, natural yogurt, sweetened yogurt and matured/semi-matured cheese were the most consumed. While natural yogurt consumers showed increased fecal levels of Akkermansia with respect to non-consumers, sweetened yogurt intake was associated to lower levels of Bacteroides. Serum levels of CRP were also significantly reduced in yogurt consumers. Our results underline the interest in exploring the potential effects of the different yogurt types and the role the microbiota may play in such effects.

Highlights

Fermented foods have played an important role in human diet since the development of civilization and represent a special feature of some dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean one
The association between the different live microorganisms provided by the diet within the intestinal ecosystem offers a novel way to look into gut microbiota composition and its metabolic activity (Kok and Hutkins, 2018)
Our results showed that, among the fermented dairy products assessed, yogurt was the product which showed higher ability to modulate the fecal microbiota

Summary

Introduction

Fermented foods have played an important role in human diet since the development of civilization and represent a special feature of some dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean one. Fermented Dairy-Products and Intestinal Microbiota association in epidemiological studies with obesity prevention, and with the reduction on the risk of different diseases, including metabolic disorders, cardiovascular and immune-related diseases or cognitive decline, among others (Guo et al, 2017; SalasSalvadó et al, 2017; Kok and Hutkins, 2018; Sivamaruthi et al, 2018). Fermented products may modulate the IM (Kato-Kataoka et al, 2016), the association between fermented foods as part of the regular diet and the IM composition has not been sufficiently studied yet (Alvaro et al, 2007; Uyeno et al, 2008) In this regard, a recent work examining the impact of consuming a fermented milk containing microorganisms from the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium on the IM has reported a gender-specific increase in the levels of these two bacteria in the feces of volunteers (Lisko et al, 2017). It is worth underlining that some studies draw attention to the impact yogurt could have, independent of diet (Panahi et al, 2018)

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