The Exploration of Anti-Obesity Effects of Potential Probiotics on C57BL/6 Mouse Model  

Join the Department of Food Science and Nutrition for this seminar series event featuring guest speaker Kequan (Kevin) Zhou, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University.

Increasing evidence suggests a favorable approach to ameliorate obesity and related metabolic disease through gut microbial profile modification. Potential probiotics such as the C. cochlearium (CC) strain could prove beneficial in modulating physiological and metabolic markers for reducing high-fat diet induced obesity (DIO). Zhou will discuss his research in this area; he and his colleagues found that 16 weeks of C. cochlearium supplementation reduced body weight of DIO mice by 17.3 percent with significant fat mass decrease, among other health benefits. Despite a higher caloric absorption rate through metabolic analysis, CC mice showed increased basal metabolic rate, energy expenditure, and respiratory quotient with significant elevated physical activity, suggesting C. cochlearium supplementation could mitigate the adverse effects of high-fat induced obesity, and may be used as a potential aid to lower risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome.