Polysaccharides from fermented Momordica charantia L. with Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 ameliorate metabolic disorders and gut microbiota change in obese rats.

Obesity is a chronic disease characterized by overweight resulting from fat accumulation, along with disturbance of metabolism and gut microbiota. Fermentation, as a green processing method, is beneficial for improving the nutrition capacity of food components. Polysaccharides are considered as one of the important components in food and are also potential supplements for anti-obesity treatment. This study aimed to investigate the anti-obesity effects of polysaccharides from fermented and non-fermented Momordica charantia L. with Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 (FP and NFP) on obese rats by serum metabolomics and gut microbiota analysis. Metabolomics results revealed that abnormal lipid metabolism was formed due to obesity. The supplement of FP and NFP improved the glycerophospholipids, glycosphingolipids, and amino acid metabolism of the obese rats, which alleviated the hypercholesterolemia and overweight in rats. Furthermore, the disorder of gut microbiota was ameliorated by FP and NFP. FP promoted the growth of beneficial bacteria, such as phylum Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and genera Anaerostipes, Coprococcus, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium. FP also reduced several harmful bacteria belonging to the phylum Proteobacteria and genera Helicobacter. The positive correlation of the weight loss and lowering of serum lipids with the increased beneficial bacteria further elucidated that the anti-obesity effect of FP in obese rats is associated with the regulation of gut microbiota and serum metabolites. The results of this study could provide information for developing probiotic products in the future that may have beneficial effects on the prevention or treatment of obesity.

Fermented Momordica charantia L. juice modulates hyperglycemia, lipid profile, and gut microbiota in type 2 diabetic rats.

The effect of Lactobacillus plantarum-fermentation on the anti-diabetic functionality of Momordica charantia was examined using a high-fat-diet and low-dose streptozocin-induced type 2 diabetic rat model. Fermented Momordica charantia juice (FMCJ) administration mitigated the hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperlipidemia, and oxidative stress in diabetic rats more favorably than the non-fermented counterpart. Treatments with FMCJ improved ergosterols and lysomonomethyl-phosphatidylethanolamines metabolisms more effectively. Supplement of FMCJ regulated the composition of the gut microbiota, such as increased the abundance of Bacteroides caecigallinarum, Oscillibacter ruminantium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Prevotella loescheii, Prevotella oralis, and Prevotella melaninogenica, in diabetic rats compared with untreated diabetic rats. Moreover, FMCJ-treated diabetic rats exhibited higher concentrations of acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, total short-chain fatty acids and lower pH values in colonic contents than that in non-fermented juice-treated rats. These results demonstrated that Lactobacillus plantarum-fermentation enhanced the anti-diabetic property of MC juice by favoring the regulation of gut microbiota and the production of SCFAs.

Polysaccharides from fermented Momordica charantia ameliorate obesity in high-fat induced obese rats.

Momordica charantia (M. charantia) has been widely used to treat obesity due to its bioactive ingredients. This research aimed to investigate the anti-obesity effect of polysaccharides (FP) from fermented M. charantia with Lactobacillus plantarum NCU116 on high-fat induced obese rats. We found that FP could effectively lower the body weight gain, Lee's index, insulin resistance and cell sizes of epididymal adipose tissues in obese rats compared with polysaccharides from non-fermented M. charantia (NFP). FP treatments decreased the total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, leptin, whereas they elevated the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, adiponectin, significantly in the serum of obese rats. Furthermore, administrations of FP notably improved oxidative balance in obese rats. Lipidomics results indicated that 24 potential biomarkers have been identified in serum. Additionally, 21 lipids were considerably altered by FP and NFP intakes, such as fatty acyls, glycerolipids, sphingolipids, sterol lipids and glycerophospholipids. The anti-obesity properties of FP were revealed via relieving insulin resistance and fat accumulation of obese rats, which was associated with the regulation of lipid metabolism. Overall, FP exerted more favourable impacts on the anti-obesity effect than NFP, which may be attributed to fermentation.