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Int J Med Sci 2016; 13(8):569-577. doi:10.7150/ijms.15597

Research Paper

Heat-killed Lactobacillus Reuteri GMNL-263 Prevents Epididymal Fat Accumulation and Cardiac Injury in High-Calorie Diet-Fed Rats

Po-Hsiang Liao¹, Wei-Wen Kuo², Dennis Jine-Yuan Hsieh³, Yu-Lan Yeh^4,5, Cecilia-Hsuan Day⁶, Ya-Hui Chen⁷, Sheng-Huang Chang⁸, V. Vijaya Padma⁹, Yi-Hsing Chen ^{7, 10*}, Chih-Yang Huang ^{1, 11, 12*✉}

1. Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
2. Department of Biological Science and Technology, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
3. School of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
4. Department of pathology, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan
5. Jen-Teh Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Miaoli, Taiwan
6. Department of Nursing, Mei Ho University, Pingguang Road, Pingtung, Taiwan
7. Department of Research and Development, GenMont Biotech Incorporation, Tainan, Taiwan
8. Department of Health, Tsao-Tun Psychiatric Center, Executive Yuan, Nantou, Taiwan
9. Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
10. Institute of Biomedical Science, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
11. Graduate Institute of Chinese Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
12. Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan
* These authors contributed equally to this paper.

Abstract

High-calorie diet-induced obesity leads to cardiomyocyte dysfunction and apoptosis. Impaired regulation of epididymal fat content in obese patients has been known to increase the risk of cardiac injury. In our study, a lactic acid bacteria, Lactobacillus reuteri GMNL-263, was evaluated for its potential to reduce body weight and body fat ratio and to prevent heart injury in rats with high-fat diet-induced obesity. Lactic acid bacteria supplementation restored the cardiac function and decreased the physiological changes in the heart of the obese rats. In addition, the Fas/Fas-associated protein pathway-induced caspase 3/e Poly polymerase mediated apoptosis in the cardiomyocytes of the obese rats was reversed in the Lr263-treated rats. These results reveal that fed with Lr-263 reduces body fat ratio, inhibits caspase 3-mediated apoptosis and restores cardiac function in obese rats through recovery of ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Our results indicated that the administration of Lr263 lactic acid bacteria can significantly down-regulate body fat and prevent cardiomyocyte injury in obese rats.

Keywords: Functional food, High-calorie diet, Obesity, Cardiac dysfunction