Combination of Treadmill Aerobic Exercise with Bifidobacterium longum OLP-01 Supplementation for Treatment of High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Murine Model

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity, which can result from disease, genetics, nutrition, lifestyle, and insufficient physical activity, substantially increases an individual's risk of complications and comorbidities. Exercise can be an effective strategy for achieving an energy balance and physiological fitness as part of obesity management. Additionally, probiotics, which are isolated from food and the environment, are being rapidly developed and have functional benefits for mitigating various metabolic dysfunctions associated with obesity. The potentially positive physiological and functional effects of exercise, probiotics, and exercise combined with probiotics should be elucidated in a model of diet-induced obesity.

Methods: Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum OLP-01 (OLP-01) was isolated from an elite Olympic-level athlete who exhibited physiological adaptations to peripheral fatigue caused by exercise training. In this current study, ICR strain mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 weeks to replicate an obesity model. The mice were divided into 5 groups according to the diet administered: control with normal diet, only HFD, HFD + exercise, HFD + OLP, and HFD + exercise + OLP groups. They were administered the probiotic and/or treadmill exercise training for 5 weeks, and their growth curve, physical activity, physiological adaptation, biochemical parameters, body composition, and glucose tolerance were assessed.

Results: Compared with only exercise or only probiotics, a combination of probiotics and exercise significantly improved the weight, glucose tolerance, fat composition, and exercise-related oxidative stress of mice. Regular and programmed exercise with sufficient rest may be crucial to obesity improvement, and a combination of probiotics and exercise may synergistically assist obesity management and health promotion.

Conclusion: OLP-01 probiotics combined with exercise training can be employed as a strategy for treating obesity. However, the exact regulatory mechanisms underlying this effect, possibly involving microbiota and associated metabolites, warrant further investigation.

Keywords: Exercise training; Hyperglycemia; Obesity; Oxidative stress; Probiotics.

Fig. 1

Experimental designs for the effects of exercise and probiotics on a high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity model. The animals were randomly assigned to the indicated 5 groups (Control, HFD, HFD + OLP-01, HFD + Ex, and HFD + Ex + OLP-01). Obesity was induced by an HFD for the whole experimental period, including the induction and experimental phases. Physical fitness and related assessments were performed within the experimental period.

Fig. 2

Effects of the aerobic exercise and probiotic interventions on growth. Obesity was induced by an HFD for 4 weeks, and this was followed by the indicated treatments over 5 weeks. Data are the mean ± SD per group. Treatments with different letters (a–c) are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Fig. 3

Effect of a 5-week exercise and probiotic intervention on exhaustive swimming time. Columns with different letters (a–d) are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Fig. 4

Effect of a 5-week exercise and probiotic intervention on grip strength (A) and relative strength (B). Data are the mean ± SD, and columns with different letters (a–c) are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Fig. 5

Effect of exercise and probiotic intervention on CK (A), LDH (B), AST (C), and ALT (D) levels after an extended exercise challenge. The indicated 4 groups underwent 90-min swimming, and blood was sampled after 60 min of rest. Data are the mean ± SD, and columns with different letters (a–d) are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Fig. 6

Effect of exercise and probiotic intervention on glucose tolerance (A), and area under curve (B) levels after extended exercise challenge. The oral glucose tolerance test was performed at the end of the study and at the indicated time points (0, 15, 60, 90, and 120 min) immediately after 1 g/kg (body weight) oral glucose supplementation for glucose analysis. Data are the mean ± SD, and columns with different letters (a–d) are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Fig. 7

Effect of exercise and probiotic intervention on histopathology. At the end of study, the indicated liver (A), muscle (B), heart (C), kidney (D), perirenal fat (E), and epididymal fat (F) tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and the specimens were photographed under a light microscope (H&E stain, magnification: ×200; bar, 40 μm).