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07.04.2011

Healthy slimming bacteria sabotages fat cells

Its full name is Lactobacillus paracasei F19 and according to research done by dairy conglomerate Arla, it breaks down body fat. Swedish researchers describe how in PLoS: the bacteria boosts the production of the fat-cell hormone FIAF.

Lactobacillus paracasei F19 is already on the market. Arla puts the probiotic, along with other beneficial micro-organisms in its Cultura products, available in Scandinavia. But if you'd rather take supplements, you can also buy capsules containing Lactobacillus paracasei F19. A well-known one is Theralac.

The researchers, associated with the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, describe in their article how they fattened mice for 10 weeks, given them food containing 20 percent fat. Mice, and certainly mice like the ones used here from the SPF C57B/6J strain, put on weight quickly on a diet like this. Half of the animals were also given Lactobacillus paracasei F19.

After the 10 weeks the researchers observed that the mice that had been given Lactobacillus paracasei F19 in their food had become less fat. Their total amount of body fat was significantly less.

The researchers found more than 4 times more of the Fasting Induced Adipose Factor [FIAF] hormone in the F 19-mice's blood. In Swedish the abbreviation for this hormone seems to be ANGPTL4.

FIAF inhibits the enzyme LPL. LPL cuts the fatty acids in fats [triglycerides] off from their glycerol globules. One theory is that you notice raised FIAF levels mostly when you've eaten. That's when your insulin level rises, and this activates the LPL enzyme in the fat cells. The fat cells use the enzyme to absorb fatty acids from the blood, but FIAF interferes with this process. You can see this in the lower of the three figures above. The amount of VLDL triglycerides in the blood rises as a result of Lactobacillus paracasei F19. The apparent result is that the liver and muscles burn the fatty acids.

The researchers also looked at whether heat-killed Lactobacillus paracasei F19 also had any effect. It didn't. So if you are looking for supplements or products containing Lactobacillus paracasei F19, go for cooled products.

Arla was heavily involved in the Lactobacillus paracasei F19 research. The company already filed a patent for the bacteria in 2006. An Arla researcher is named in this PLoS publication, and Arla provided the Lactobacillus paracasei F19 for this study. But as far as we can see, the conglomerate didn't finance the study.

Source:
PLoS One. 2010 Sep 30;5(9). pii: e13087.

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