Milk fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 influences adipocyte size via inhibition of dietary fat absorption in Zucker rats.

We have demonstrated previously that a diet containing skimmed milk (SM) fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LGSP) reduces adipocyte size in Sprague-Dawley rats. Two experiments were conducted to extend these observations in order to elucidate the mechanism involved. In experiment 1, lean and obese Zucker rats were fed a diet containing SM or LGSP for 4 weeks. The LGSP diet, compared with the SM diet, resulted in lowering of the mesenteric adipose tissue weight (23 %; P < 0.05), adipocyte sizes (28 %; P < 0.001) and serum leptin concentration (36 %; P < 0.05) in lean rats. Obese Zucker rats did not display such dietary effects. Only the number of smaller adipocytes was increased (P < 0.05) by the LGSP diet in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese rats. The LGSP diet significantly reduced the serum and hepatic cholesterol in rats. In addition, the LGSP diet led to an increased excretion of faecal fatty acids and total neutral faecal sterols in both rat strains. In experiment 2, Sprague-Dawley rats with permanent cannulation of the thoracic duct were fed either the SM or LGSP diets and their lymph was collected. The LGSP diet lowered the maximum transport rate of TAG and phospholipids. These results indicate that fermented milk regulates adipose tissue growth through inhibition at the stage of dietary fat absorption in lean Zucker rats.

Effects of milk fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 on adipocyte size in rats.

Despite adequate scientific evidence of the potential benefits of probiotics to human health or disease prevention, their contribution to the growth of adipose tissue remains to be established. Four-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a diet containing skim milk (control diet) or skim milk fermented by Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 (LGSP diet) for 4 weeks. Their body weight gain, adipose tissue weight, adipocyte size distribution profile, blood and hepatic lipids, and serum leptin, glucose and adiponectin levels were determined. There was a significant reduction in average adipocyte size in mesenteric white adipose tissue (P = 0.004). Moreover, the rats fed the LGSP diet displayed greater numbers of small adipocytes from mesenteric and retroperitoneal adipose tissues than did those on the control diet. Whereas adiponectin concentrations did not differ between the groups, serum leptin concentrations were decreased to 32 % in the LGSP diet group compared with the control group. Concentrations of serum glucose and lipids, and liver lipids, except for the liver TAG level, were similar in the two groups. These results indicate a possible role for a fermented milk product in the regulation of adipose tissue growth.

Dietary gallate esters of tea catechins reduce deposition of visceral fat, hepatic triacylglycerol, and activities of hepatic enzymes related to fatty acid synthesis in rats.

Tea catechins, rich in (-)-epigallocatechin gallate and (-)-epicatechin gallate, or heat-treated tea catechins in which about 50% of the (-)-epigallocatechin gallate and (-)-epicatechin gallate in tea catechins was epimerized to (-)-gallocatechin gallate and (-)-catechin gallate, were fed to rats at 1% level for 23 d. Visceral fat deposition and the concentration of hepatic triacylglycerol were significantly lower in the tea catechin and heat-treated tea catechin groups than in the control group. The activities of fatty acid synthase and the malic enzyme in the liver cytosol were significantly lower in the two catechin groups than in the control group. In contrast, the activities of carnitine palmitoyltransferase and acyl-CoA oxidase in the liver homogenate were not significantly different among the three groups. These results suggest that the reduction in activities of enzymes related to hepatic fatty acid synthesis by the feeding of tea catechins or heat-treated tea catechins can cause reductions of hepatic triacylglycerol and possibly of visceral fat deposition.