Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Aug 15, 2017; 8(3): 117-126
Published online Aug 15, 2017. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v8.i3.117
Oral spore-based probiotic supplementation was associated with reduced incidence of post-prandial dietary endotoxin, triglycerides, and disease risk biomarkers
Brian K McFarlin, Andrea L Henning, Erin M Bowman, Melody A Gary, Kimberly M Carbajal
Brian K McFarlin, Andrea L Henning, Erin M Bowman, Melody A Gary, Applied Physiology Laboratory, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States
Brian K McFarlin, Andrea L Henning, Kimberly M Carbajal, Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, United States
Author contributions: McFarlin BK designed the study, collected data, interrupted findings, and prepared manuscript; Henning AL, Bowman EM, Gary MA and Carbajal KM collected data, interrupted findings, and prepared manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the UNT Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects Research.
Informed consent statement: Subjects provided written and oral consent to participate using an IRB-approved informed consent form specific to the study in question.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The present study was funded in part by a competitive research grant from Microbiome Labs, LLC (Glenview, IL) to the University of North Texas. The UNT team did not receive direct funding associated with the completion of the present study. The funding agency was not involved in the data collection, analysis, interpretation, and manuscript preparation. Double blind procedures and confidentially were used to conduct the present study in a sound and unbiased manner. As such, the authors report no conflict of interest associated with completing the present study.
Data sharing statement: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Brian K McFarlin, PhD, FACSM, FTOS, Associate Professor, Applied Physiology Laboratory, University of North Texas, 1921 West Chestnut Street, PEB Room 209, Denton, TX 76203, United States. brian.mcfarlin@unt.edu
Telephone: +1-940-5653165 Fax: +1-940-5654904
Received: January 26, 2017
Peer-review started: February 8, 2017
First decision: April 17, 2017
Revised: July 4, 2017
Accepted: July 14, 2017
Article in press: July 17, 2017
Published online: August 15, 2017
Processing time: 199 Days and 21 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To determine if 30-d of oral spore-based probiotic supplementation could reduce dietary endotoxemia.

METHODS

Apparently healthy men and women (n = 75) were screened for post-prandial dietary endotoxemia. Subjects whose serum endotoxin concentration increased by at least 5-fold from pre-meal levels at 5-h post-prandial were considered “responders” and were randomized to receive either placebo (rice flour) or a commercial spore-based probiotic supplement [Bacillus indicus (HU36), Bacillus subtilis (HU58), Bacillus coagulans, and Bacillus licheniformis, and Bacillus clausii] for 30-d. The dietary endotoxemia test was repeated at the conclusion of the supplementation period. Dietary endotoxin (LAL) and triglycerides (enzymatic) were measured using an automated chemistry analyzer. Serum disease risk biomarkers were measured using bead-based multiplex assays (Luminex and Milliplex) as secondary, exploratory measures.

RESULTS

Data were statistically analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and a P < 0.05. We found that spore-based probiotic supplementation was associated with a 42% reduction in endotoxin (12.9 ± 3.5 vs 6.1 ± 2.6, P = 0.011) and 24% reduction in triglyceride (212 ± 28 vs 138 ± 12, P = 0.004) in the post-prandial period Placebo subjects presented with a 36% increase in endotoxin (10.3 ± 3.4 vs 15.4 ± 4.1, P = 0.011) and 5% decrease in triglycerides (191 ± 24 vs 186 ± 28, P = 0.004) over the same post-prandial period. We also found that spore-based probiotic supplementation was associated with significant post-prandial reductions in IL-12p70 (24.3 ± 2.2 vs 21.5 ± 1.7, P = 0.017) and IL-1β (1.9 ± 0.2 vs 1.6 ± 0.1, P = 0.020). Compared to placebo post supplementation, probiotic subject had less ghrelin (6.8 ± 0.4 vs 8.3 ± 1.1, P = 0.017) compared to placebo subjects.

CONCLUSION

The key findings of the present study is that oral spore-based probiotic supplementation reduced symptoms indicative of “leaky gut syndrome”.

Keywords: Metabolic endotoxemia; Chronic disease; Leaky gut syndrome; Probiotics; Multiplex; Cardiovascular disease; Inflammatory cytokines; High-fat meal challenge

Core tip: Dietary or metabolic endotoxemia is a condition that affects approximately 1/3 of individuals living in Western society. It is characterized by increased serum endotoxin concentration during the first five hours of the post-prandial period following consumption of a meal with a high-fat, high-calorie content. The key findings of the present study, were that 30-d of oral spore-based probiotic supplementation reduced the incidence of dietary endotoxemia, which may be indicative of reduced gut permeability.