Consuming probiotics for a month helps diminish fat accumulation in the liver, finds new study
Probiotics could be used as support therapy in liver disease
Spanish scientists have demonstrated through an experiment on obese rats that the consumption of probiotics for 30 days can help diminish the accumulation of fat in the liver.
This new finding, published in the journal PLOS ONE, is a step forward in the fight against Non-Alcolohic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is closely related to obesity and diabetes.
Researchers from the ‘Nutrition Biochemistry: Theurapetic Applications’ group (CTS-461) and the José Mataix Institute for Nutrition and Food Technology at the University of Granada have demonstrated that the administration of three probiotic strains diminishes the accumulation of fat in the liver (steatosis) of obese rats. Steatosis is the first stage in NAFLD disease.
The three strains used by the University of Granada researchers, Lactobacillus paracasei CNCM I-4034, Bifidobacterium breve CNCM I-4035 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CNCM I-4036, are held at the Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes (CNCM) of the Pasteur Institute. During their first experiment, conducted on healthy volunteers, the researchers demonstrated that all three probiotics are tolerable and safe for human consumption.
In this new study, the strains were administered over 30 days in the diet of Zucker rats, which become obese owing to a mutation in the gene that codifies the receptor or leptine, a hormone that transmits a sensation of satiety to the organism. Zucker rats are among the best characterised genetic models.
In their article, the authors say the administration of probiotics led to an accumulation of lipids (most of them triacylglycerides) in the liver, which was significantly lower than that occurring in rats fed with placebo.
'This new finding went hand-in-hand with lower values in proinflamatory molecules (tumour-a necrosis factor, interleukin 6 and liposacarid) in the serum of rats fed with probiotics.
According to the researchers, this liver disease will not be cured with probiotics, but these micro-organisms can certainly be used as support therapy in joint use with other treatment.
The study was financed by the private food company Hero Spain.