Prevention of cholesterol gallstone formation by Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 and Lactobacillus fermentum MF27 in lithogenic diet-induced mice

Ju Kyoung Oh¹, You Ra Kim¹, Boin Lee², Young Min Choi²^,^*, Sae Hun Kim¹^,^*

Author Information & Copyright ▼

¹Department of Food Bioscience and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.

²Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Sangjusi 37224, Korea.

^*Corresponding Author: Young Min Choi, Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Sangjusi 37224, Korea, Phone: +82-54-530-1232. E-mail: ymchoi1@knu.ac.kr.

^*Corresponding Author: Sae Hun Kim, Department of Food Bioscience and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. E-mail: saehkim@korea.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2020 Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resources. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Oct 05, 2020 ; Revised: Nov 09, 2020 ; Accepted: Nov 16, 2020

Published Online: Nov 23, 2020

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 and L. fermentum MF27 on biochemical indices in the serum, cholesterol metabolism in the liver and mucin expression in the gallbladder in lithogenic diet (LD)-induced C57BL/6 mice to determine the preventive effects of lactobacilli on gallstone formation. By the end of 4 wk of the experimental period, mice fed on a LD with high-fat and high-cholesterol exhibited higher levels of total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum compared to mice fed on control diet or LD with Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 43121 (LD+P1; p<0.05). Cholesterol-lowering effects observed in the LD+P1 and LD with L. fermentum MF27 (LD+P2) groups were associated with reduced expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase in the liver compared to the LD group (p<0.05). Furthermore, expression of the gel-forming mucin, including MUC5AB and MUC5B, was suppressed in the LD+P1 and LD+P2 groups compared to the LD group (p<0.05). Therefore, steady intake of both L. acidophilus ATCC 43121 and L. fermentum MF27 may have the ability to prevent the formation of cholesterol gallstones in LD-induced C57BL/6 mice.

Keywords: Cholesterol gallstone; Mucin; Lactobacillus acidophilus; Lactobacillus fermentum; Lithogenic diet