Designer Probiotics Could Reduce Obesity

Specially designed probiotics can modulate the physiology of host fat cells say scientists writing in Microbiology. The findings could lead to specialised probiotics that have a role in the prevention or treatment of conditions such as obesity.

Scientists engineered a strain of Lactobacillus to produce a version of a molecule called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). When this engineered bacterial strain was fed to mice, the researchers found that the composition of the mice's fat tissue was significantly altered, demonstrating that ingesting live bacteria can influence metabolism at remote sites in the body.

In this study, an enzyme-encoding gene from P. acnes was transferred to the Lactobacillus strain allowing it to produce t10, c12 CLA. Lactobacillus strains are common inhabitants of the normal gut flora and are often found in probiotic products. The researchers found that the level of t10, c12 CLA in the mice's fat tissue quadrupled when they were fed this recombinant probiotic. Thus, this study demonstrates that gut microbes have an impact on host metabolism, and in particular fat composition.

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222205346.htm

Original Paper:

Eva Rosberg-Cody, Catherine Stanton, Liam O'Mahony, Rebecca Wall, Fergus Shanahan, Eamonn Quigley, Gerald Fitzgerald and Paul Ross. Recombinant lactobacilli expressing linoleic acid isomerase can modulate the fatty acid composition of host adipose tissue in mice. Microbiology, Dec 22, 2010 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.043406-0