The use of antimicrobials as adjuvant therapy for the treatment of obesity and insulin resistance: Effects and associated mechanisms

Ceftriaxone causes dysbiosis and changes intestinal structure in adjuvant obesity treatment

BACKGROUND

Obesity is still a worldwide public health problem, requiring the development of adjuvant therapies to combat it. In this context, modulation of the intestinal microbiota seems prominent, given that the composition of the intestinal microbiota contributes to the outcome of this disease. The aim of this work is to investigate the treatment with an antimicrobial and/or a potential probiotic against overweight.

METHODS

Male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to a 12-week overweight induction protocol. After that, 4-week treatment was started, with mice divided into four groups: control, treated with distilled water; potential probiotic, with Lactobacillus gasseri LG-G12; antimicrobial, with ceftriaxone; and antimicrobial + potential probiotic with ceftriaxone in the first 2 weeks and L. gasseri LG-G12 in the subsequent weeks.

RESULTS

The treatment with ceftriaxone in isolated form or in combination with the potential probiotic provided a reduction in body fat. However, such effect is supposed to be a consequence of the negative action of ceftriaxone on the intestinal microbiota composition, and this intestinal dysbiosis may have contributed to the destruction of the intestinal villi structure, which led to a reduction in the absorptive surface. Also, the effects of L. gasseri LG-G12 apparently have been masked by the consumption of the high-fat diet.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that the use of a ceftriaxone in the adjuvant treatment of overweight is not recommended due to the potential risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease.

Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Restored High-Fat-Fed Induced Hyperinsulinemia in Rats at Early Stage of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Numerous studies have proposed the transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the treatment of typical type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to find a new strategy with MSC therapy at an early stage of T2DM to efficiently prevent the progressive deterioration of organic dysfunction. Using the high-fat-fed hyperinsulinemia rat model, we found that before the onset of typical T2DM, bone marrow-derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) significantly attenuated rising insulin with decline in glucose as well as restored lipometabolic disorder and liver dysfunction. BM-MSCs also favored the histological structure recovery and proliferative capacity of pancreatic islet cells. More importantly, BM-MSC administration successfully reversed the abnormal expression of insulin resistance-related proteins including GLUT4, phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1, and protein kinase Akt and proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFα in liver. These findings suggested that MSCs transplantation during hyperinsulinemia could prevent most potential risks of T2DM for patients.