title: Lactobacillus rhamnosus lowers zebrafish lipid content by changing gut microbiota and host transcription of genes involved in lipid metabolism.
abstract: The microbiome plays an important role in lipid metabolism but how the introduction of probiotic communities affects host lipid metabolism is poorly understood. Using a multidisciplinary approach we addressed this knowledge gap using the zebrafish model by coupling high-throughput sequencing with biochemical, molecular and morphological analysis to evaluate the changes in the intestine. Analysis of bacterial 16S libraries revealed that Lactobacillus rhamnosus was able to modulate the gut microbiome of zebrafish larvae, elevating the abundance of Firmicutes sequences and reducing the abundance of Actinobacteria. The gut microbiome changes modulated host lipid processing by inducing transcriptional down-regulation of genes involved in cholesterol and triglycerides metabolism (fit2, agpat4, dgat2, mgll, hnf4α, scap, and cck) concomitantly decreasing total body cholesterol and triglyceride content and increasing fatty acid levels. L. rhamnosus treatment also increased microvilli and enterocyte lengths and decreased lipid droplet size in the intestinal epithelium. These changes resulted in elevated zebrafish larval growth. This integrated system investigation demonstrates probiotic modulation of the gut microbiome, highlights a novel gene network involved in lipid metabolism, provides an insight into how the microbiome regulates molecules involved in lipid metabolism, and reveals a new potential role for L. rhamnosus in the treatment of lipid disorders.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Falcinelli
authors.affiliation: Department for Innovation in Biological, Agro-food and Forest Systems (DIBAF), University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Picchietti
authors.affiliation: Aquatic Animal Nutrition and Health Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, PL4 8AA, UK.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodiles
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Estimative e degli Alimenti, Sezione di Chimica Bromatologica, Biochimica, Fisiologia e Nutrizione, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cossignani
authors.affiliation: Aquatic Animal Nutrition and Health Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, PL4 8AA, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Merrifield
authors.affiliation: Section of Electron Microscopy, Great Equipment Center. Tuscia University, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Taddei
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maradonna
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Ike
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Olivotto
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gioacchini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Oliana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Carnevali
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D052201:Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000235:genetics*; D054892:Metagenome; D019936:Probiotics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol
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