Abstract
Background and Purpose: Obesity is a complex condition where a
low-grade chronic inflammation and gut dysbiosis contribute to the
development of the related metabolic dysfunctions. Nowadays, its
management of such disease implies drastic changes in lifestyle and
different anti-obesity drugs. Unfortunately, most of them present
limited effectiveness and important side effects. Therefore there is an
urgent demand for more effective and safer strategies for obesity
management. In this sense, probiotics are emerging as a promising
therapy. Different probiotics have demonstrated beneficial effects on
this condition, increasing the interest in the development of probiotic
treatments. Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716 has shown
anti-inflammatory effects and capacity to modulate microbiota
composition in different experimental models. Experimental
Approach: L. fermentum CECT5716 (5x108
CFU/mice/day) was evaluated in a model of high fat diet-induced obesity
in mice. Key results: L. fermentum exerts anti-obesity
effects, associated with its anti-inflammatory properties and
amelioration endothelial dysfunction and gut dysbiosis. The probiotic
restores Akkermansia sp. abundance and reduced
Erysipelotrichi class and Clostridium spp presence as well
as increased Bacteroides proportion. Conclusion and
Implications: This probiotic represents a very interesting approach.
Our findings describe, for the first time, the ability of this probiotic
to ameliorate experimental obesity through microbiome modulation,
affecting different bacteria that have been reported to play a key role
in the pathogenesis of obesity. Therefore, this suggests a potential use
of L. fermentum CECT5716 in clinical practice, also taking into
account that probiotic treatments have demonstrated to be relatively
safe and well tolerated.