L. plantarum, L. fermentum, and B. breve Beads Modified the Intestinal Microbiota and Alleviated the Inflammatory Response in High-Fat Diet–Fed Mice

This paper aims to study the effects of compound microbe-based beads on changes in the intestinal microbiota and alleviation of high-fat (HF) diet–induced inflammatory responses. Forty-eight mice were fed base chow or a high-fat diet for 4 weeks and then randomly separated into six groups: normal diet (group A), high-fat diet (group B), high-fat positive control (fed with high-fat chow plus Tetrahydrolipstatin, group C), high-fat chow plus B. breve beads (group D), high-fat chow plus L. plantarum-L. fermentum beads (group E), and high-fat chow plus L. plantarum-L. fermentum-B. breve beads (group F). The body weights were measured. The serum cytokine and lipid levels were determined by ELISA, and high-throughput sequence analysis of the fecal microbiota was conducted. Beads with cell encapsulation rates higher than 99% decreased the body weight from 50.97 ± 3.44 g in group B to 42.64 ± 2.63 g in group F at the end of the experiment (p = 0.00019). The total cholesterol content in group F was 80.14 ± 9.37 mmol/L, which was significantly lower than that in group A (96.13 ± 24.07 mmol/L) (p = 0.02765), group B (102.52 ± 12.20 mmol/L) (p = 0.00196), and group C (98.99 ± 11.32 mmol/L) (p = 0.00804). In addition, the serum IL-6 level showed no significant difference between group F and the base chow control group. The microbial cell-loaded bead intervention led to increased abundances of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in mouse feces. Oral administration of three strain-based beads led to alleviation of inflammatory reactions in high-fat diet–fed mice.