Project description:Obesity and overweight are closely related to diet, and gut microbiota play an important role in body weight and human health. The aim of this study was to explore how Lactobacillus curvatus HY7601 and Lactobacillus plantarum KY1032 supplementation alleviate obesity by modulating the human gut microbiome. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 72 overweight individuals. Over a 12-week period, probiotic groups consumed 5×10^9 colony-forming units of HY7601 and KY1032), whereas the placebo group consumed the same product without probiotics. After treatment, the probiotic group displayed a reduction in body weight (p <0.001), visceral fat mass (p <0.025), and waist circumference (p <0.007), and an increase in adiponectin (p <0.046), compared with the placebo group. Additionally, HY7601 and KY1032 supplementation modulated bacterial gut microbiota characteristics and beta diversity by increasing Bifidobacteriaceae and Akkermansiaceae, and decreasing Prevotellaceae and Selenomonadaceae. In summary, HY7601 and KY1032 probiotics exert anti-obesity effects by regulating the gut microbiota; hence, they have therapeutic potential for preventing or alleviating obesity and overweight.
Project description:The objective is to investigate, using genome-wide DNA methylation analyses, methylation changes following an n-3 FA supplementation in overweight and obese subjects and to identify specific biological pathways potentially altered by the supplementation.
Project description:The study evaluates the effect of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC 510® supplementation on anthropometric and biochemical parameters, GM composition and gastrointestinal and general symptoms of overweight/obese subjects.
Project description:In order to explore the effect of hypertension and overweight/obesity on human visceral adipose tissue transcriptome, we collected three visceral adipose tissue samples from normal weight individuals (non hypertension), overweight/obese individuals (non hypertension) and overweight/obese individuals with hypertension, and sequenced their transcriptome.
Project description:We used Affymetrix microarrays to investigate gene expression changes in the liver of wild-type C57BL-6 mice exposed to a high-fat diet that might have been caused by the oral consumption of the probiotic B. pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765. The aim of this work was to determine whether the daily intake (by oral gavage) of the probiotic (P) B. pseudocatenulatum for seven weeks exerted any modulatory effects, at the level of gene expression, in the liver of C57BL-6 male mice exposed to a high-fat diet (HFD). Male mice were randomly assigned to four experimental groups (n= 5 animals per group) as follows: (1) control group, fed a standard diet (SD); (2) obese group, fed a high-fat diet (HFD); (3) a group that received the SD and a daily dose of the probiotic (1M-CM-^W109 CFU B. pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765) (SD+P); and (d) an obese group that was fed the HFD and a daily dose of the probiotic (1M-CM-^W109 CFU B. pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765) (HFD+P). At the end of the experimental procedure total RNA was extracted from the liver to compare differential gene expression between the groups. Liver differential gene expression after 7 weeks of supplementation between: 1) the HFD group and the SD group (effects of the high-fat diet); 2) the HFD+P and the HFD (effects of the probiotic on the consumption of a high-fat diet) and 3) the SD+P group and the SD (direct effects of the probiotic on the liver of animals consuming a normal diet).
Project description:Gut microbiome research is rapidly moving towards the functional characterization of the microbiota by means of shotgun meta-omics. Here, we selected a cohort of healthy subjects from an indigenous and monitored Sardinian population to analyze their gut microbiota using both shotgun metagenomics and shotgun metaproteomics. We found a considerable divergence between genetic potential and functional activity of the human healthy gut microbiota, in spite of a quite comparable taxonomic structure revealed by the two approaches. Investigation of inter-individual variability of taxonomic features revealed Bacteroides and Akkermansia as remarkably conserved and variable in abundance within the population, respectively. Firmicutes-driven butyrogenesis (mainly due to Faecalibacterium spp.) was shown to be the functional activity with the higher expression rate and the lower inter-individual variability in the study cohort, highlighting the key importance of the biosynthesis of this microbial by-product for the gut homeostasis. The taxon-specific contribution to functional activities and metabolic tasks was also examined, giving insights into the peculiar role of several gut microbiota members in carbohydrate metabolism (including polysaccharide degradation, glycan transport, glycolysis and short-chain fatty acid production). In conclusion, our results provide useful indications regarding the main functions actively exerted by the gut microbiota members of a healthy human cohort, and support metaproteomics as a valuable approach to investigate the functional role of the gut microbiota in health and disease.
