Fecal samples from obese subjects sequencing

Extracts of fermented barley with Lactobacillus Plantarum dy-1 (LFBE) have been reported to exert anti-obesity activity in vivo including cell and rat. However, whether it worked in clinical trials remained uncovered. In the current study, we conducted a single-blind experiment by enrolling on some subjects with hyperlipemia to test the effects of products containing LFBE (No. ChiCTR1800019614 by Chinese Clinical Trial Registry). Results indicated that LFBE intervention could ameliorated the symptoms of the obese, characterized by the decrease of body fat percentage, visceral fat area and serum lipids levels. More interestingly, products containing the beta-glucan ingredients had similar anti-obesity effects.16S rRNA sequencing revealed that LFBE modulated the community structure of gut microbiota of the subjects showed by the diversity analysis. For gut miacrobiota composition, LFBE significantly increased Bacteroides genus, while decreased Streptococcus and Haemophilus genus. At species level, beneficial microorganisms like Bifidobacterium longum subsp longum, Alistipes sp AL-1, Bacteroides plebeius, Bacteroides vulgatus and so on, were enriched by LFBE, which were different from the effects of beta-glucan. Further, KEGG analysis indicated that LFBE particularly regulated the steroid biosynthesis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy pathways. Furthermore, correlation analysis suggested that body fat percentage and visceral fat area were significantly positively correlated with Desulfovibrio and Sutterella, the basal metabolic rate was negatively correlated with Haemophilus, and fasting blood glucose was positively correlated with Dialister. In all, this clinical study demonstrated the anti-obesity function of LFBE in humans, probably via the interactions with gut microbiota, and LFBE could be developed as the functional ingredients with anti-obesity effects for a healthy diet.