Obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with major economic and health implications. The complex pathophysiology of obesity explains the difficulty provided to health policy for its clinical management. Increasing data show that obesity and metabolic abnormalities are intimately connected to differences in consumption of probiotics, its relevance to gut microbiota activity and composition. The goal of this investigation was to assess the effect of oral delivery of indigenous probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum NCDC 400 and prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) on obesity-associated hepatic steatosis and inflammation produced by a high-fat diet (HFD). C57BL/6 mice treated with L. fermentum NCDC 400 either independently or in conjunction with FOS demonstrated reduced body weight and abdominal obesity after 24 weeks of treatment. Also, the anti-oxidative enzyme activity went down, and the inflammatory profile got better, with less fat getting into the hepatocytes. The lipid profile changed, with HDL cholesterol going up and LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels going down. Further, L. fermentum NCDC 400 and FOS combinations decreased fasting glucose, gHbA1c, gastric inhibitory peptide, and insulin levels in mice fed with HFD, thus improving glucose homeostasis. Overall, consumption of L. fermentum NCDC 400 alone or its combinational effects had a protective role on obesity-associated hepatic steatosis.

Practical applications

The potential indigenous probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum NCDC 400 and prebiotic FOS had a preventive role in obesity-induced hepatic steatosis and improves anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in HFD-fed obese mice. Our finding would be helpful to prevent obesity-associated hepatic steatosis and inflammation upon supplementation of pre- and pro-biotics (synbiotics).