Profiles of Intestinal Flora in Breastfed Obese Children and Selecting Functional Strains Against Obesity

Scope: Breast milk has the potential to prevent childhood obesity by providing probiotics, but there are still instances of obesity in breastfed children.

Methods and results: This study investigates the difference in intestinal flora structure between breastfed children with obesity (OB-BF) and normal-weight breastfed children (N-BF). Building upon this foundation, it employs both cell and mouse models to identify an antiobesity strain within the fecal matter of N-BF children and explore its underlying mechanisms. The results reveal a reduction in lactobacillus levels within the intestinal flora of OB-BF children compared to N-BF children. Consequently, Lactobacillus plantarum H-72 (H-72) is identified as a promising candidate due to its capacity to stimulate glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion in enteroendocrine cells (ECCs). In vivo, H-72 effectively increases serum GLP-1 concentration, reduces food intake, regulates the expression of genes related to energy metabolism (SCD-1, FAS, UCP-1, and UCP-3), and regulates gut microbiota structure in mice. Moreover, the lipoteichoic acid of H-72 activates Toll-like Receptor 4 to enhanced GLP-1 secretion in STC-1 cells.

Conclusions: L. plantarum H-72 is screened out for its potential antiobesity effect, which presents a potential and promising avenue for future interventions aimed at preventing pediatric obesity in breastfed children.