Lactobacillus plantarum LRCC 5273 isolated from Kimchi ameliorates diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in C57BL/6 mice

This study was designed to select potent cholesterol-lowering probiotic strains on HepG2 cell and investigate the effect of selected strain, Lactobacillus plantarum LRCC 5273 and LRCC 5279 in hypercholesterolemic mice. In the results, LP5273 group showed significantly reduced total and LDL cholesterol compared to HCD group. In addition to significantly up-regulated hepatic mRNA expression of LXR-alpha and CYP7A1, intestinal LXR-alpha and ABCG5 were significantly up-regulated in LP5273 group. With activation of hepatic and intestinal LXR-alpha and its target genes, fecal cholesterol and bile acid excretion were increased in LP5273 fed mice. These results suggest that LP5273 ameliorates hypercholesterolemia in mice through the activation of hepatic and intestinal LXR-alpha, resulting in enhancement of fecal cholesterol and bile acids excretion in the small intestine. The results of present study suggest mechanistic evidences for hypocholesterolemic effects of L. plantarum spp., and may contribute to future researches for prevention of hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular disease.