Synbiotic Supplementation Modulates Gut Microbiota, Regulates Beta-catenin Expression and Prevents Weight Gain in Ob/ob Mice

Abstract

Background: Obesity is one of the main health problems in the world today and dysbiosis seem to be one of the factors involved. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of synbiotic supplementation in obesity and microbiota in ob/ob mice. 20 animals were divided into four groups: Obese Treated (OT) and Control (OC), Lean Treated (LT) and Control (LC). All animals received standard diet for 8 weeks. Treated groups received a synbiotic in water while nontreated groups received water. After 8 weeks, all animals were sacrificed and gut tissue mRNA isolation and stool samples by microbiota analysis were collected. Beta-catenin, occludin, cadherin and zonulin were analyzed in gut tissue by RT-qPCR. Microbiome DNA was extracted from stool samples and sequenced using the Ion PGM Torrent platform. Results: The synbiotic supplementation reduced body weight gain in OT group comparing with OC (p=0.0398), increase of Enterobacteriaceae (p=0.005) and decrease of Cyanobacteria (p=0.047), Clostridiaceae (p=0.026), Turicibacterales (p=0.005) and Coprococcus (p=0.047). In the other hand, a significant reduction of Sutterella bacteria (p=0.009) and Turicibacter (p=0.005) was observed in LT group compared to LC. Alpha and beta diversities were differ between all treated groups. Beta-catenin gene expression was significantly decreased in the gut tissue of OT group (p≤0.0001) when compared to other groups. No changes were observed in occludin, cadherin and zonulin gene expression in the gut tissue. Conclusion: The synbiotics supplementation prevents excessive weight gain, modulates the gut microbiota, and reduces beta-catenin expression in ob/ob mice.