Effect of Lactobacillus casei CRL 431 and its fermented milk on the intestinal and systemic immune response in an experimental model of obesity in BALB/c mice

NOVOTNY NUÑEZ, IVANNA; MALDONADO GALDEANO, CAROLINA; DE MORENO DE LEBLANC, ALEJANDRA; PERDIGÓN, GABRIELA

Vancouver

Congreso; 16th International Congress of Mucosal Immunology.; 2013

Obesity is a chronic inflammatory state with adipose tissue hypertrophy. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of L. casei CRL431 (Lc) and its fermented milk (FM) administration in an experimental model of obesity. Mice received standard diet (G1) or high fat diet (G2), and were given milk, FM, Lc or water during 3 months. Liver steatosis observed in mice from G2 that received water or milk decreased in mice given FM or Lc. At the small intestine, mice from G2 that received water had shorter villi and decreased number of IgA+ and F4/80+ cells compared to mice from G1 or G2 given FM or Lc. NKT cells in liver also increased in mice from G2 given FM. However, these improvements did not increase the protection against Salmonella infection. The administration of FM or Lc in G2 also increased the phagocytic activity of spleen and peritoneum macrophages prior to the immunization with OVA antigen and maintained these increases in peritoneum macrophages post-immunization compared to mice given water. However, no modifications in the anti-OVA IgG concentrations were observed in the serum of these mice. The results showed the potentiality of probiotic supplementation in the diet of obese hosts to improve the immune response altered by the obesity.