Effects of Synbiotic Preparation Containing Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17 on Body Fat in Obese Dogs: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Obesity is an important health concern in humans and dogs. It can cause a variety of secondary problems, including low bacterial diversity. Several approaches have been tried to solve this problem; one of them is probiotic supplementation. Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17 is derived from breast milk and has been proven to be effective for obesity in humans. However, there have been no studies using a synbiotic preparation containing L. gasseri BNR17 for obesity management in dogs. Therefore, the present study evaluated the effectiveness of a synbiotic preparation containing L. gasseri BNR17 in reducing body fat in obese dogs. A group of obese dogs were fed a synbiotic preparation for 10 weeks. Obesity variables included body weight, body condition score, subcutaneous fat thickness, subcutaneous fat mass and proportion of the fat mass. In addition, feces collected at 0-week and 10-week time points were analyzed for the intestinal microbiome. Results showed a significant decrease in body weight, body condition score, and subcutaneous fat mass and proportion at the level of the third lumbar vertebra. Diversity and functional analysis of the microbiota in obese dogs showed increased microbial diversity, and increased abundance of metabolism of carbohydrate, and lipid after supplementation with a synbiotic preparation. This study was conducted as a pilot study, and the results demonstrated that a synbiotic preparation containing L. gasseri BNR17 may play a role in reducing body fat and resolving the obesity in dogs.

Keywords: Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17; body fat; computed tomography; microbiome; obesity; radiography.

Figure 1

L. gasseri BNR17 intestinal microbiome beta diversity analysis according to synbiotic prep-aration containing L. gasseri BNR17 supplementation (PCoA: Principle Coordinates Analysis, un-weighted UniFrac Distance) (R: 0.552, p < 0.01).

Figure 2

Comparison of taxonomic composition between obese dogs according to synbiotic preparation containing L. gasseri BNR17 supplementation; (A): Phylum, (B): Genus.

Figure 3

Comparison of microbiota between obese dogs according to synbiotic preparation containing L. gasseri BNR17 supplementation. Genus: (A) Enterococcus, (B) Bacteriodes, (C) Collinsella, (D) Prevotella. *** p < 0.001.

Figure 4

Functional annotation of the gut microbiomes between week 0 and 10 with the administration of the synbiotic preparation containing L. gasseri BNR17. Normalized abundance of the level 2 KEGG subsystem classified reads associated with the metabolism of carbohydrate (A), and lipid (B). The error bars show the calculated standard error of the means of five replicates of the samples.