Abstract

Supplementation of probiotics is a promising gut microbiota-targeted therapeutic method for hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. However, the selection of probiotic candidate strains is still empirical. Here, we obtained a human-derived strain,Lactobacillus mucosaeA1, which was shown by metagenomic analysis to be promoted by a high-fiber diet and associated with the amelioration of host hyperlipidemia, and validated its effect on treating hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis as well as changing structure of gut microbiota inApoE-/-mice on a Western diet.L. mucosaeA1 attenuated the severe lipid accumulation in serum, liver and aortic sinus ofApoE-/-mice on a Western diet, while it also reduced the serum lipopolysaccharide-binding protein content of mice, reflecting the improved metabolic endotoxemia. In addition,L. mucosaeA1 shifted the gut microbiota structure ofApoE-/-mice on a Western diet, including recovering a few members of gut microbiota enhanced by the Western diet. This study not only suggests the potential ofL. mucosaeA1 to be a probiotic in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis, but also highlights the advantage of such function-based rather than taxonomy-based strategies for the selection of candidate strains for the next generation probiotics.Keywords:lactobacillus mucosae;human-derived probiotics;next generation probiotics;gut microbiota;lipid metabolism;atherosclerosis;ApoE-/-mice