The effects of Lactobacillus-fermented milk on lipid metabolism in hamsters fed on high-cholesterol diet

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of local Lactobacillus strains (NTU 101 and 102) on cholesterol-lowering effects in vivo. Thirty male hamsters were housed, divided into five groups, and fed on a cholesterol diet (5 g/kg diet) to induce hypercholesterolemia. Milk fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101, Lactobacillus plantarum NTU 102, and Lactobacillus acidophilus BCRC 17010 was administrated for this study. After treatment with different fermented milk, blood was taken and liver was removed for the determination of lipoproteins, including total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride. Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria decreased (10(5)) in the control group; when hamsters were fed on fermented milk, the number of lactobacilli (10(7)-10(8)) and bifidobacteria (10(5)-10(7)) was increased. Serum and liver total cholesterol levels were significantly reduced by about 26.4, 23.5, and 30.1% and by about 17.7, 15.9, and 13.4% when hamsters were given fermented milk. However, serum HDL-C and LDL-C were also reduced. The results of this study showed that the hypocholesterolemic effect of local Lactobacillus strains was attributed to its ability to lower serum and liver total cholesterol levels. Thus, local Lactobacillus strains could significantly increase probiotic count.

Hypocholesterolemic and Growth Promoting Effects of <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> AK Isolated from a Nigerian Fermented Cereal Product on Rats Fed High Fat Diet

“…The strain used in this study had previously shown good survival in conditions simulating normal exposure to stomach acidity as well as high bile salt concentrations and additionally large bowel colonization can be inferred from the high counts of lactobacilli in the test group compared to the control group. The lactobacilli count increased steadily with time in the course of the study in agreement with several studies where administration of lactobacilli is positively correlated with significantly higher fecal lactobacilli counts [13,15,23]. In these studies the control is usually stable as in the present study.…”

“…These could be due to effects on general health, alteration of microbial balance or other unknown factors. These results appear not to be supported by some other studies such as Chiu et al [15] where all groups of hamsters fed high cholesterol diet showed no significant differences in body weight gain, total food intake and food efficiency irrespective of administration of lactobacilli or not. Similarly Wang et al [13] found no significant differences in body weight gain; food intake and food efficiency in animals supplemented with a strain of L. plantarum and the control group fed high lipid diets.…”

“…Recently, there has been renewed interest in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) particularly Lactobacillus spp which are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and have been linked to their contribution to health such as immunomodulation, anticarcinogenic properties and hypocholesterolemic properties [11][12][13][14]. There has been accumulating evidence that the presence Lactobacillus in sufficient amounts is associated with the lowering of serum cholesterol levels in experimental animals [13,15] though this is not always proven in humans [16].…”

Genes involved in obesity: Adipocytes, brain and microflora

“…More recently, Jones et al (2004) showed the potential of artificial cell microencapsulated genetically engineered Lactobacillus plantarum for bile acids deconjugation to lower cholesterol. Animal studies have confirmed the in vivo cholesterol-lowering effects of selected probiotic strains (Chiu et al, 2005). Milk diets containing Bifidobacterium have been shown to improve serum lipids in rats as well as in humans with moderate hypercholesterolemia, suggesting a potential use of probiotics in lowering serum cholesterol (Roller, 2004).…”

“…Finally, it has been reported that microflora deconjugates and dehydroxylates bile acids Jones, 2004), metabolizes bilirubin (Saxerholt and Midtvedt, 1986), reduces cholesterol (Roller, 2004;Chiu, 2005), and degrades mucus glycoproteins produced by the intestinal epithelium's goblet cell lineage (Hooper et al, 2002).…”