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Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng® Inhibits Obesity by Regulating the AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway

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Abstract

As a metabolic syndrome, obesity has become a global public health problem. Bacillus licheniformis has been shown to inhibit obesity by regulating the gut microbiota, but the underlying mechanism of its therapeutic effect is still unknown. In this study, the anti-obesity mechanism of Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng® was investigated by examining a high-fat diet-induced obesity mouse model. Our results showed that Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng® significantly decreased body weight gain and fat accumulation, serum lipid profiles, and proinflammatory cytokine levels and improved glucose and lipid metabolism in obese mice. Furthermore, compared with those of high-fat diet-fed mice, Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng® treatment also inhibited nuclear factor-κB activation, increased phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase activation in the liver, and regulated the expression of genes associated with lipid metabolism. These results indicated that Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng®-induced obesity inhibition could occur by activating the AMP-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. Thus, our results suggested that Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng® has the potential to treat obesity and related metabolic diseases in the clinic.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to them containing information that could compromise research participant privacies and consents.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the editors and reviewers for helping to improve the clarity of the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Project of Chinese National Programs for Research and Development (No. 2016YFD0501009) and Jilin Province Medical and Health Talent Special Project (JLSCZT2019-018).

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Author notes

  1. Xiaojie Lu and Yue Jing These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, 130062, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaojie Lu, Yue Jing, Xiaofei Zhou, Naisheng Zhang & Yongguo Cao

  2. Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, People’s Republic of China

    Jiandong Tai

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  1. Xiaojie Lu
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Contributions

YJ, XL, and YC designed the research. YJ, XL were responsible for the execution of the study and conducted data collection and analysis. YJ, NZ, XZ, and JT played major roles in drafting, writing, and revising this manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yongguo Cao.

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Ethical Approval

All mice handling and study procedures followed the regulations of the Animal Care and Use Committee of Jilin University (protocol number SCXXK (JI-2016-0003).

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lu, X., Jing, Y., Zhou, X. et al. Bacillus licheniformis Zhengchangsheng® Inhibits Obesity by Regulating the AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway. Probiotics & Antimicro. Prot. 13, 1658–1667 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-021-09792-6

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