Daniscos Probiotic Improves Metabolic Syndrome

COPENHAGEN, DenmarkAccording to a new unpublished study, administration of Daniscos probiotic strain Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis 420 (B420), a naturally occurring strain isolated from dairy products, improved metabolic syndrome by reducing tissue inflammation and reducing metabolic endotoxaemia, thereby counteracting the adverse effects of high-fat diet.

The study was carried out by the team of professor Remy Burcelin, an expert of glucose metabolism and research director at the National Institute of Health & Medical Research (INSERM) in Toulouse, France, in collaboration with Danisco Health & Nutrition Research Centre in Kantvik, Finland. Burcelin presented the details of the new study for in the Keystone Symposium on Diabetes on April 16, 2010, in Whistler, Canada.

The recent discovery by our group that patients feeding a fat-enriched diet develop diabetes and obesity through changes of their intestinal microflora has led us to envision strategies aiming to hamper the development of the deleterious intestinal bacterial ecology observed during metabolic diseases, Burcelin said.

The new screening tests revealed Bifidobacterium lactis B420, in comparison with other probiotic strains, has the potential to reduce the adverse effects associated with high-fat diets and alleviate metabolic diseases, said Sampo Lahtinen, Ph.D., senior scientist and platform manager at Daniscos Health and Nutrition Research Centre in Kantvik.

In a series of experiments with mice on a high-fat diet, administration of the probiotic strain B420 to diabetic mice improved the fasting glycaemia and restored the glucose turnover rate to the level of the control mice fed with normal chow. The probiotic treatment reduced the fasted insulin levels, but improved the insulin secretion upon glucose challenge, indicating an improved metabolic flexibility and restoration of normal glucose metabolism, and a potential beneficial effect on metabolic syndrome. Further studies exploring the mechanisms of the observed effects revealed the beneficial effect of B420 is mediated by the reduction of plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a potent pro-inflammatory molecule. B420 changes intestinal mucosal microbiota and reduces the efflux of LPS into plasma, thereby reducing inflammation and improving insulin metabolism.