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Introduction Obesity, a pervasive global epidemic, has heightened susceptibility to chronic ailments and diminished the overall life expectancy on a global scale. Probiotics and inulin (IN) have been documented to mitigate obesity by exerting an influence on the composition of the gut microbiota. Whether heat-killed Bifidobacterium longum BBMN68 (MN68) and IN have an anti-obesity effect remains to be investigated. Methods In this study, Wistar rats were fed a high-fat diet (HFD), and orally administered heat-killed MN68 (2 × 10 11 CFU/kg) and/or inulin (0. 25 kg/kg) for 12 weeks. Histological analysis, serology analysis and 16S rRNA gene sequencing were performed. Results Heat-killed MN68 + IN treatment showed an enhanced effect on preventing weight gain, diminishing fat accumulation, and regulating lipid metabolism, compared to either heat-killed MN68 treatment or inulin treatment. Gut microbiota results showed that heat-killed MN68 + IN treatment significantly increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidota, Oscillospira, Intestinimonas, Christensenella, and CandidatusStoquefichus, and reduced the relative abundance of Enterococcus. Furthermore, heat-killed MN68 + IN significantly increased the SCFA levels, which were correlated with changes in the gut microbiota. Discussion This research provides support for the application of heat-killed MN68 and IN in the treatment of obesity, and highlights the combination of heat-killed BBMN68 and IN as functional food ingredients.
Sun et al. (2024) studied this question.