Lactobacillus plantarum LMT1-48 exerts anti-obesity effect in high-fat diet-induced obese mice by regulating expression of lipogenic genes

Obesity is a major health problem and is known to be closely associated with metabolic diseases. Abnormal hepatic accumulation of fat causes fatty liver or hepatic steatosis, and long-term consumption of a high-fat diet is known to be a key obesity-causing factor. Recent studies have demonstrated that probiotics such as Lactobacillus strains, exert an anti-obesity effect by regulating adipogenesis. However, it is still unknown how the consumption of probiotics can reduce abdominal fat volume by regulating the hepatic expression of lipogenic genes. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of long-term ingestion of L. plantarum LMT1-48 on the expression of lipogenic genes in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. We observed that treatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with L. plantarum LMT1-48 extract inhibited their differentiation and lipid accumulation by downregulating lipogenic genes, namely, PPAR gamma, C/EBP alpha, FAS, and FABP4. Interestingly, administration of L. plantarum LMT1-48 reduced liver weight and liver triglycerides concurrently with the downregulation of the lipogenic genes PPAR gamma, HSL, SCD-1, and FAT/CD36 in the liver, resulting in the reduction of body weight and fat volume in HFD-fed obese mice. Notably, we also observed that the administration of at least 10(6) CFU of L. plantarum LMT1-48 significantly lowered body weight and abdominal fat volume in modified diet-fed mouse models. Collectively, these data suggest that L. plantarum LMT1-48 is a potential healthy food for obese people.