Osteoporosis, an imbalance in the bone-forming process mediated by osteoblasts and the bone-resorbing function mediated by osteoclasts, is a bone degenerative disease prevalent among the aged population. Due to deleterious side effects of currently available medications, probiotics as a potential treatment of osteoporosis is an appealing approach. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the beneficial effects of two novel Lactobacilli strain probiotics on bone health in ovariectomized (OVX) induced osteoporotic mice model and its underlying mechanisms. Forty-five 9-week-old Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice underwent either a sham-operation (n = 9) or OVX (n = 36). Four days after the operation, OVX mice were further divided into four groups and received either saline alone, Lactobacillus plantarum GKM3, Lactobacillus paracasei GKS6 or alendronate per day for 28 days. After sacrifice by decapitation, right distal femur diaphysis was imaged via micro-computed tomography (MCT) and parameters including bone volume/tissue volume ratio (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular number (Tb.N), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured. Moreover, GKM3 and GKS6 on RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and osteoblast differentiation using in vitro cultures were also investigated. The results showed that both probiotics strains inhibited osteoporosis in the OVX mice model, with L. paracasei GKS6 outperforming L. plantarum GKM3. Besides this, both GKS6 and GKM3 promoted osteoblast differentiation and inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation via the Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) and RANKL pathways, respectively. These findings suggested that both strains of Lactobacilli may be pursued as potential candidates for the treatment and management of osteoporosis, particularly in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

(1) Background: An age-related cognitive decline is commonly affecting the life of elderly with symptoms involved in progressive impairments to memory and learning. It has been proposed that probiotics could modulate age-related neurological disorders via the gut–brain axis. (2) Methods: To investigate the anti-aging effect of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum GKM3, both survival tests and cognitive experiments were conducted in the SAMP8 mice model. The six-month-old SAMP8 (n = 20 in each gender) were fed with probiotic GKM3 at a dosage of 5.1 × 10⁹ and 1.0 × 10⁹ cfu/ kg B.W./day until their natural death. Then, the life span was investigated. Three-month-old SAMP8 (n = 10 in each gender) were administered GKM3 for 14 weeks. Then, the behavior tests and oxidation parameters were recorded. (3) Results: GKM3 groups showed significantly increased latency in the passive avoidance test and time of successful avoidance in the active avoidance test. The TBARS and 8-OHdG from mice brains also showed a significant reduction in the groups treated with GKM3. In addition, lower accumulation of the amyloid-β protein was found in SAMP8 mice brains with the supplement of GKM3. (4) Conclusions: These results indicated that L. plantarum GKM3 delayed the process of aging, alleviated age-related cognitive impairment, and reduced oxidative stress.

Objective: Obesity has become one of the world's biggest issues. This condition has a great impact on several metabolic and chronic diseases. For example, obesity is often accompanied by hyperuricemia or gout. However, few drugs are available for the treatment of obesity. The present study is to evaluate the antiobesity effect of Lactobacillus plantarum GKM3 in high-fat-diet-induced obese rats and whether taking L plantarum GKM3 can effectively reduce uric acid accumulation caused by obesity and ameliorate other harmful factors. Method: Sixty male Wistar rats were divided into five groups as follows: ( 1 Woods SC , Seeley RJ , Porte D , Schwartz MW . Signals that regulate food intake and energy homeostasis. Science. 1998;280(5368):1378–1383. doi:10.1126/science.280.5368.1378. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ) ND group, fed normal diet; ( 2 Kopelman PG . Obesity as a medical problem. Nature. 2000;404(6778):635–643. doi:10.1038/35007508. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ) HFC group, fed AIN93G-based high-fat diet containing 65% solids, 7% soybean oil, and 25% lard; ( 3 Skrypnik K , Bogdański P , Łoniewski I , Reguła J , Suliburska J . Effect of probiotic supplementation on liver function and lipid status in rats. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Technologia Alimentaria. 2018;17(2):185–192 [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ) HFL group, fed AIN93G-based high-fat diet supplemented with 102.7 mg/kg/d L plantarum GKM3; ( 4 Szulińska M , Łoniewski I , Skrypnik K , Sobieska M , Korybalska K , Suliburska J , Bogdański P . Multispecies probiotic supplementation favorably affects vascular function and reduces arterial stiffness in obese postmenopausal women—a 12-week placebo-controlled and randomized clinical study. Nutrients. 2018;10(11):1672. doi:10.3390/nu10111672. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ) HFM group, fed AIN93G-based high-fat diet supplemented with 205.4 mg/kg/d L plantarum GKM3; and ( 5 Hikita M , Ohno I , Mori Y , Ichida K , Yokose T , Hosoya T . Relationship between hyperuricemia and body fat distribution. Intern Med. 2007;46(17):1353–1358. doi:10.2169/internalmedicine.46.0045. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] ) HFH group, fed AIN93G-based high-fat diet supplemented with 513.5 mg/kg/d L plantarum GKM3. After 6 weeks, the body, organ, and fat weights; food intake; blood serum levels; and adipocyte size were measured. Results: Results showed that rats fed on the high-fat diet showed more body weight, increased feed efficiency, higher fat deposition, higher total liver weight, elevated serum lipid levels, and increased adipocyte size compared with those on the normal diet. All these effects were reversed by supplementation of L plantarum GKM3. Conclusions: In conclusion, we suggest that the L plantarum GKM3 supplement may have beneficial antiobesity and uric acid–lowering effects.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful, progressive chronic inflammatory disease marked by cartilage destruction. Certain synovial inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and TNF-α, promote OA inflammation and pain. Lactobacillus spp. is a well-known probiotic with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, and antiosteoporotic properties. This study evaluated the therapeutic effects of a live L. plantarum strain (GKD7) in the anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT)-induced OA rat model. The results show that oral administration of live L. plantarum GKD7 improved weight-bearing asymmetry after ACLT surgery. Moreover, micro-computed tomography images and histopathological analysis show that oral live L. plantarum GKD7 improved subchondral bone architecture, protected articular cartilage against ACLT-induced damage, and reduced synovial inflammation. L. plantarum GKD7 also reduced IL-1β and TNF-α production in OA cartilage and synovium. Thus, orally administered live L. plantarum GKD7 appears to effectively slow the progression of OA.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and painful inflammatory joint disease affecting the cartilage, bone, and synovial membranes, without any effective treatment that targets the underlying mechanisms of OA. Our study evaluated the therapeutic effects of a live probiotic strain, Clostridium butyricum GKB7, administered for 6 weeks to rats with knee OA (KOA) induced by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) of the right knee. All rats underwent weekly weight-bearing behavioral testing and body weight measurements. At 6 weeks, all rats were sacrificed, and the right hind knees were collected for micro-computed tomography imaging and histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses. Compared with rats in the ACLT-only group, ACLT rats administered the probiotic exhibited dramatic improvements in pain-related behavior from postoperative week 2, had significantly less osseous and cartilaginous damage at week 6, and significantly lower levels of the inflammatory markers interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in cartilage and synovium sections. C. butyricum GKB7 appeared to slow or even reverse OA progression and is worth investigating as a novel therapeutic for OA.