亚洲AV

Study finds probiotics are not only good for the gut, they affect other organs too

Body

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 40% of Americans are classified as obese, leading obesity to be considered a significant public health threat. High fat diets, which are often cited as a cause of obesity, can also result in the development of metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that may promote the progression of serious health conditions, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. With obesity rates still rising, the hunt is on for ways to combat the negative effects of a high fat diet. 亚洲AV researchers now believe they have discovered a possible answer鈥攑robiotic supplementation.

Robin and Allyson in the lab
Mason researchers Robin Couch and Allyson Dailey in the lab.
Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

and , researchers in Mason鈥檚 and the , are interested in the correlations between dietary intake and overall health. In a recent study, Couch and Dailey partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to explore the influence of probiotic supplementation on a higher fat diet, using pigs as model organisms.

The research team looked at four groups of pigs鈥攖wo groups that were fed nutritionally balanced diets with and without probiotic supplementation, and two groups that were fed higher fat diets with and without probiotic supplementation. The probiotic that was tested is known as Lacticaseibacillus paracasei. After six months of dietary intake, organ tissue samples obtained from the pigs were examined, specifically looking at their molecular composition.

Couch and Dailey were looking at specifically at metabolites, substances that are produced or used during metabolism. They found that the kidneys and the brain were particularly sensitive to a high-fat diet and when certain metabolites were noted to be at harmful levels, the kidneys and the brain were the most susceptible.

In contrast, they also discovered that, with probiotic supplementation, many of the detrimental metabolite levels reverted to levels found in pigs that were fed a healthy diet. In other words, probiotic supplementation staved off the negative effects associated with a high-fat diet, illustrating how probiotics may play a key role in preventative health care.

鈥淲e鈥檇 like to see probiotic intake become a regular part of the dietary recommendations that a physician would give to a patient,鈥 said Dailey.

The researchers are also aiming to investigate other probiotic strains.

鈥淚f different strains do have distinct effects on the body, then you could see individualized probiotics, or even probiotic cocktails, being used to treat specific diseases,鈥 said Couch. 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 likely that, alongside pharmaceuticals, prescribing probiotics that address various diseases will be more commonplace in the future.鈥

Additionally, Couch and Dailey view this study as a stepping stone to potential subsequent work on how other nutrients, such as protein and carbohydrates, affect tissue composition.

鈥淲e specifically looked at the influence of a high-fat diet in our research, but this opens up a whole world of nutritional investigation at the metabolic level,鈥 said Couch.

For now, the researchers are hoping that their study, which was recently published in the journal , serves to add scientific validity to the claims of the benefits of probiotics.

鈥淭his is progress towards providing new evidence that probiotics are good for you and that what you consume has a profound effect on your health,鈥 said Dailey. 鈥淭hese findings can contribute to the creation of revolutionary solutions, and, in the end, that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 in this鈥攖o help people thrive.鈥