Abstract
Obesity is considered a primary contributing factor in the development of many diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular illnesses. Phytochemical-rich foods, associated to healthy gastrointestinal microbiota, have been shown to reduce obesity and associated comorbidities. In the present article, we describe the effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus johnsonii N6.2 and blueberry extracts (BB) on the gut microbiota and lipid profile of rats under a high-fat (HF) or low-calorie (LC) diet. L. johnsonii was found to increase the levels of long chain fatty acids (LCFA) in the serum of all animals under HF diet, while reduced LCFA concentrations were observed in the adipose tissue of animals under HF diet supplemented with BB extracts. All animals under HF diet also showed lower protein levels of SREBP1 and SCAP when treated with L. johnsonii. The gut microbiota diversity, β-diversity was significantly changed by L. johnsonii in the presence of BB. A significant reduction in α-diversity was observed in the ileum of animals under HF diet supplemented with L. johnsonii and BB, while increased α-diversity was observed in the ilium of animals under LC diet supplemented with L. johnsonii or BB. In summary, L. johnsonii and BB supplementation induced significant changes in gut microbiota diversity and lipid metabolism. The phospholipids pool was the lipidome component directly affected by the interventions. The ileum and colon microbiota showed clear differences depending on the diet and the treatments examined.
Highlights
Obesity is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and has linearly grown like a silent epidemy at a constant annual rate of 0.66–0.73% over the last 30 years [1]
The dietary interventions were administered three times a week at the following concentrations: L. johnsonii N6.2 (LJ) at 108 CFU/dose suspended in 100 μl PBS; blueberry extract (BB) phenols at 25 mg/kg body weight suspended in 100 μl PBS
A total of 290 lipids from the negative scan and 510 from the positive scan were identified in serum samples, and 168 lipids from the negative scan and 605 from the positive scan were identified in the fat tissue
Summary
Obesity is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and has linearly grown like a silent epidemy at a constant annual rate of 0.66–0.73% over the last 30 years [1]. As such, it is the common origin of several chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular illnesses. Recent evidence suggests that several interlaced mechanisms are critical to achieve a lipid-lowering effect from the Mediterranean diet [10, 11], the precise pathways and mechanisms fostering the associated health benefits are yet to be fully elucidated. As such, understanding the absorption, metabolic modifications, and further circulation of lipids in the bloodstream has become an essential component to elucidate the systemic effects of these eating habits
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