Bacillus natto regulates gut microbiota and adipose tissue accumulation in a high-fat diet mouse model of obesity
Pinggui Wang, Xiang Gao, Yan Li, Shanglong Wang, Jia Yu, Yuxi Wei
Abstract
The direct treatment of obesity and its associated metabolic disorders using Bacillus natto was investigated in a high-fat diet (HFD) obesity mouse model. After 8 weeks of treatment, B. natto significantly reduces the body, epididymal fat, perirenal fat, liver, and spleen weight of obese mice, and reduces serum triglyceride and total cholesterol. B. natto also reduces alanine transferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and total bile acid, and decreases fat cell area and fat droplets in the liver, compared with the untreated HFD group. B. natto can inhibit fatty acid synthesis and promote fatty acid catabolism in the liver through expression of Pparα and Srebp-1c. Metagenomic analysis of gut microbiota showed that B. natto increased the ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes and increased the abundance of Verrucomicrobia to improve obesity. These results provide a scientific basis for B. natto as a potential probiotic to prevent obesity and metabolic disorders.