Researchers from South Korea and Canada reported that paraprobiotic heat-killed lactic acid bacteria (HLAB) combined with grape seed flour (GSF) prebiotic could reduce weight gain and adipose tissue weight in obese mice.
Published in the Nutrients journal, this is the first study assessing the synergistic anti-obesity effect of paraprobiotic and prebiotic. Most studies on anti-obesity have focused on probiotics with live bacteria rather than paraprobiotics.
Paraprobiotics are non-viable microbial cells (intact or broken) or crude cell extracts, which when administered in adequate amounts can confer a benefit on the human or animal consumer. It has advantages over the use of live probiotics, especially in terms of safety for immunocompromised subjects and the ease of preparation.
Method
In this study, the HLAB wasobtained from kefir, a fermented dairy beverage which typically contains natural probiotics (lactic acid bacteria).
Kefir’s health benefits have been studied, some of which include cholesterol-lowering, antimicrobial, immuno-modulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity effects and even inhibiting non-alcoholic liver disease.
The GSF is a by-product of winemaking made from the seeds and skin of grapes and processed into a dry powder. Other studies have shown supplementing the diet with GSF could suppress body weight gain and high cholesterol, attributed to its high flavonoid levels.
For this study, HLAB and GSF were assessed individually and together in a high-fat and high-fructose diet-fed obese mice model.
The mice (n=10 per group) were split by treatment as follows: control diet (high fat high fructose), 2.5% GSF, 2.5% GSF+HLAB and HLAB. The study duration was eight weeks.
Blood samples were collected and measured for cholesterol, glucose, and adipose tissue.
Anti-obesity effect
The findings revealed that supplementing the diet with GSF, HLAB, and GSF+HLAB for eight weeks significantly (p<0.05) lowered body weight gain by 29%, 21%, and 52% respectively, compared to the control group.
Compared to the control group, adipose tissue weight of GSF, HLAB and GSF+HLAB groups were also significantly (p<0.05) lowered by 37%, 36% and 61% respectively.
The GSF+HLAB supplementation also significantly reduced plasma triglyceride concentration by 27% compared to the control group (p<0.05).
The combination of wine GSF and paraprobiotic kefir HLAB seemed to work synergistically to prevent the increase of body weight, adipose tissue weight, and plasma triglyceride concentrations in obese mice consuming a high fat high fructose diet.
Researchers wrote: “The synergistic effect of GSF and HLAB in the current study could be due to the activation of multifunctional pathways by a combination of bioactive components (cellular components in HLAB and polyphenols in GSF), as well as the alteration of intestinal microbiota.”
“Further study is required to determine the role of intestinal microbiota in the synergistic anti-obesity action of HLAB and GSF. These studies suggest that kefir HLAB are functional ingredients that can be used to alleviate obesity, especially in combination with GSF.”
This study suggest that a combination of prebiotic Chardonnay GSF and paraprobiotic kefir HLAB are potential functional food ingredients that synergistically alleviate obesity, especially for immunocompromised individuals.
Source: Nutrients
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082465
“Synergistic Effects of Heat-Killed Kefir Paraprobiotics and Flavonoid-Rich Prebiotics on Western Diet-Induced Obesity”
Authors: Kun-Ho Seo, et al.