Reemergence from the pandemic, annual awards, and editorial office updates: from the desk of the Editor-in-Chief, Nutrition Research

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether Lactobacillus paracasei L9 (L9) supplementation prevents diet-induced obesity in C57BL/6J mice. Four-week-old mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks and then supplemented with or without L9 for another 12 weeks. Weight gain, white adipose tissue weight, plasma lipid levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were significantly increased in the HFD group compared with those in the control group and were decreased by L9 treatment. The fat deposits in the liver and epididymal adipose tissue were increased in the HFD group compared with the normal chow diet group and decreased by L9 treatment. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that L9 suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokine and lipid synthesis–related genes in epididymal adipose tissue. This study used Illumina Miseq sequencing to explore alterations of the gut microbiome. L9 ameliorated HFD-induced structural dysbiosis and gut bacteria that were positively related with obesity phenotypes were obviously decreased. Altogether, the findings indicate that administration of L9 ameliorates HFD-induced hyperlipidemia and lipid accumulation in liver and inflammation associated with intestinal dysbiosis in obese mice. These findings suggest that L9 supplementation may provide a natural alternative to attenuate obesity.