Özlem Özdemir^1,, Çağrı Akalın², Fuat Ekiz³, Orhan Baş⁴, Tülin Bayrak⁵

Obesity is characterized by increased adipose tissue and low grade inflammation. The gut microbiota is closely associated with the obesity pathophysiology, so the probiotics; living microorganisms are questioned in terms of their effects on obesity related changes. Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 is used as a probiotic supplement in cases of digestive disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate its healing effect on the morphometric and inflammatory-energy metabolism responses in a high-fat diet-induced obese rat model. Three different nutritional groups, each consisting of eight rats, were followed for eight weeks. They received a conventional balanced diet, high-fat diet (HFD), and HFD with the supplementation of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 respectively. The weight measurements were made weekly. At the end of the study, weight gains and body mass indexes were calculated. Plasma glucose, insulin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels were evaluated. The weight changes of the HFD group showed a significant difference (p<0.001). HFD group with Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 supplementation showed significantly decreased body weight (p<0,001) and decreased plasma glucose, insulin, IL-6, TNF- α, GLP-1 levels compared to HFD group without probiotic supplementation (p<0,05). Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 may be a candidate probiotic to use in obesity management studies to maintain body weight, host energy metabolism, and inflammatory cytokine levels in high-fat diet nutrition.

High-fat-diet, Bifidobacterium infantis 35624, Interleukin-6, Tumor necrosis factor alpha, Obesity, Glucagon-like peptide-1