Identificaton of 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one isolated from Lactobacillus pentosus strain S-PT84 culture supernatants as a compound that stimulates autonomic nerve activities in rats.

Intestinal administration of various lactobacilli has been reported to affect autonomic neurotransmission, blood pressure, and body weight in rats. In this study, three molecules (peaks A, B, and C) were isolated from Lactobacillus pentosus strain S-PT84 (S-PT 84) culture supernatants. Intraduodenal (ID) injection of these molecules increased or inhibited renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in rats as follows: peak A, 134%; peak B, 40.1%; peak C, 408%. Furthermore, we identified peak C as 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (DDMP). ID injection of DDMP increased brown adipose tissue sympathetic nerve activity (BAT-SNA; 118 ± 15.3%), whereas intraoral injection of DDMP increased the body temperature above the interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT-T; 0.72 ± 0.13 °C) in rats. These data suggest that S-PT84 produces molecules that modulate autonomic nerve activity. In addition, DDMP increased BAT-SNA and BAT-T, and these changes in BAT-T may be caused by changes in BAT-SNA.