LAUSR

BACKGROUND Obesity is closely associated with lipid accumulation and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis. It has been proved that probiotics supplement contributes to alleviate obesity. The objective of this study was to investigate the mechanism by which Lactobacillus plantarum HF02 (LP-HF02) alleviated lipid accumulation and intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice. RESULTS Our results showed that LP-HF02 ameliorated body weight, dyslipidemia, liver lipid accumulation, and liver injury in obese mice. As expected, LP-HF02 inhibited pancreatic lipase activity in small intestinal contents and increased fecal triglyceride levels, thereby reducing dietary fat hydrolysis and absorption. Moreover, LP-HF02 ameliorated the intestinal microbiota composition, as evidenced by enhanced the ratio of Bacteroides to Firmicutes, decreased the abundance of pathogenic bacteria (including Bacteroides, Alistipes, Blautia, and Colidextribacter) and increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria (including Muribaculaceae, Akkermansia, Faecalibaculum, and Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group). LP-HF02 also increased fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels and colonic mucosal thickness, and subsequently decreased serum lipopolysaccharide (LPS), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels in obese mice. Additionally, RT-qPCR and western blot results demonstrated that LP-HF02 ameliorated hepatic lipid accumulation via activating the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. CONCLUSION Therefore, our results indicated that LP-HF02 could be considered as a probiotic preparation for preventing obesity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.