(P22-051-25) Probiotic Yogurt Improves Glucose Homeostasis in Type 2 Diabetes Prone Mice

Objectives: Probiotic yogurt has been studied for its anti-diabetic activity, but data are inconsistent due to varied effects among probiotic species/strains. This study explored the effect of probiotic yogurt with L. plantarum KABP-051 and Bifidobacterium BB-12 on improving glucose homeostasis in a type 2 diabetes mice model. We hypothesize that probiotic yogurt ameliorates hyperglycemia by enhancing both insulin secretion and sensitivity.

Methods: Male and female leptin-deficient mice (5 week-old, B6 Lep^ob/ob) were subjected to a normal or high-fat/high-sucrose (HFHS) diet with either no yogurt (CON-, n=20), standard yogurt (CON+, n=40), or standard yogurt with 10⁹ cfu/g probiotics containing KABP-051 and BB-12 (PRO, n=40) (1 g daily) for 16 weeks. Body weight and feed intake were measured weekly to calculate feed efficiency (FE). Fed blood glucose (BG) was measured monthly. After 16 weeks, an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test was performed.

Results: Unexpectedly, obese mice on the normal diet consuming CON+ (51.90±2.79 g) and PRO yogurts (53.51±2.53 g) exhibited increased body mass (CON- 47.0±2.46 g), P=0.001. A higher FE was observed in the CON+ and PRO groups compared to CON- (P=0.038), although mice on PRO yogurt consumed 12% more feed than the CON+ group (P=0.011). Nonetheless, glucose tolerance was improved in mice with CON+ and PRO yogurts, and both groups exhibited lower fed BG (100.8±20.71 mg/dL [↓16.5%], P=0.047; 90.89±16.74 mg/dL [↓24.8%], P=0.002, respectively) (CON- 120.78±32.21 mg/dL). However, only PRO improved fasting BG levels (116.06±16.36 vs. 152.56±31.40 mg/dL [↓23.9%], P=0.016). On the other hand, obese mice on the HFHS diet displayed no differences in body weight, feed intake and FE among the yogurt groups. As neither CON+ nor PRO yogurt reduced fed BG, both improved fasting BG (151.35±25.80 mg/dL [↓22.9%], P=0.011; 160.53±33.53 mg/dL [↓18.3%], P=0.054, respectively) (CON- 196.40±62.40 mg/dL).

Conclusions: Although CON+ and PRO yogurt supplements failed to reduce body weight and feed intake in obese mice on both diets, both improved glucose homeostasis by lowering fasting glucose and improving glucose tolerance. Only the PRO yogurt group on the normal diet reduced both fed and fasting glucose levels suggesting some additional glycemic benefits of specific probiotic strains.

Funding Sources: This project is funded by VT-AES Hatch 2022.