Syngen Biotech Co., Ltd.

The rising popularity of vegetarian diets, driven by health, aesthetic, and environmental considerations, highlights the limitations of plant-based proteins, particularly their incomplete amino acid profiles. Probiotics have emerged as a promising solution to enhance amino acid availability from plant protein sources. This study focused on the investigation and validation of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum SG053 and SG066 as effective agents to improve amino acid absorption, employing both in vitro assays and in vivo rat models. Estimated protein digestibility showed that these two strains were able to enhance the concentration of essential amino acids (up to 127.6%), non-essential amino acids (up to 107.3%), and total amino acids (up to 117.0%) at 4 h after probiotic addition. In an in vivo experiment, rats were administered probiotics at two doses (1 × 10⁷ CFU/day and 1 × 10⁹ CFU/day) to evaluate the effects of prolonged intake on serum amino acid concentrations under standard chow diet and high-protein diet regimens. The in vivo experiment showed that both low-dose and high-dose probiotics increased serum total amino acid concentrations (28.8-79.7%), with a more prominent elevation (p < 0.05) in essential amino acid levels (56.5-104.3%) presented in high-dose probiotics treatment. In a further postprandial experiment, rats in a high-protein diet group supplemented with 1 × 10⁹ CFU of probiotics showed remarkable increases in essential amino acid concentrations, with SG053 enhancing levels by 82.0% and SG066 by 69.4%. These findings suggest that integrating SG053 with plant-based diets could enhance the nutritional value of plant proteins, offering a practical solution for more balanced and sustainable dietary practices.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes persistent inflammation involving the joints, cartilage, and synovium. In individuals with RA, alterations in the composition of intestinal bacteria suggest the vital role of gut microbiota in immune dysfunction. Multiple therapies commonly used to treat RA can also alter the diversity of gut microbiota, further suggesting the modulation of gut microbiota as a prevention or treatment for RA. Therefore, a better understanding of the changes in the gut microbiota that accompany RA should facilitate the development of novel therapeutic approaches. In this study, B. coagulans BACO-17 not only significantly reduced paw swelling, arthritis scores, and hind paw and forepaw thicknesses but also protected articular cartilage and the synovium against RA degeneration, with a corresponding downregulation of TNF-α expression. The inhibition or even reversing of RA progression highlights B. coagulans BACO-17 as a novel therapeutic for RA worth investigating.

Obesity is a global health crisis, marked by excessive fat in tissues that function as immune organs, linked to microbiota dysregulation and adipose inflammation. Investigating the effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus SG069 (LR069) and Lactobacillus brevis SG031 (LB031) on obesity and lipid metabolism, this research highlights adipose tissue's critical immune-metabolic role and the probiotics' potential against diet-induced obesity. Mice fed a high-fat diet were treated with either LR069 or LB031 for 12 weeks. Administration of LB031 boosted lipid metabolism, indicated by higher AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) phosphorylation, and increased the M2/M1 macrophage ratio, indicating LB031's anti-inflammatory effect. Meanwhile, LR069 administration not only led to significant weight loss by enhancing lipolysis which evidenced by increased phosphorylation of hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) but also elevated Akkermansia and fecal acetic acid levels, showing the gut microbiota's pivotal role in its antiobesity effects. LR069 and LB031 exhibit distinct effects on lipid metabolism and obesity, underscoring their potential for precise interventions. This research elucidates the unique impacts of these strains on metabolic health and highlights the intricate relationship between gut microbiota and obesity, advancing our knowledge of probiotics' therapeutic potential.