Worldwide, obesity has become a major risk factor associated with health risks such as diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and certain forms of cancer. In this study, we estimated the anti-obesity effect of the bacterial strain Lactobacillus plantarum LB818 (designated as LB818) using male C57BL/6J mice, which were treated with high-fat diet (HFD) to induce obesity. Next, LB818 (109 colony-forming units [CFU]/mL) was orally administered for 8 weeks. The results showed that feeding HFD+LB818 (109 CFU/mL) ameliorated body weight gain and decreased total body fat by regulating fasting glucose levels in HFD-fed mice. LB818 treatment significantly lowered aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and elevated high-density lipoprotein levels in serum and decreased deposition of fat droplets in liver. LB818 treatment increased the respective abundances of essential bacteria, including Bacteroidetes, Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and increased the Bacteroidetes:Firmicutes ratio; however, it significantly decreased the levels of Firmicutes. Taken together, this study demonstrates that LB818 is effective in attenuating obesity and hepatic steatosis and regulated gut microbiota in HFD-fed obese mice.
Keywords: Lactobacillus plantarum LB818; anti-obesity; gut microbiota; high-fat diet.