Nutrition research
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Review Meta Analysis
Probiotics for weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The intestinal microbiota has been reported to be one of the potential determinants of obesity in recent human and animal studies. Probiotics may affect the gut microbiota to modulate obesity. This systematic review aims to summarize and critically evaluate the evidence from clinical trials that have tested the effectiveness of probiotics or foods containing probiotics as a treatment for weight loss. ⋯ However, the total number of RCTs included in the analysis, the total sample size, and the methodological quality of the primary studies were too low to draw definitive conclusions. Thus, more rigorously designed RCTs are necessary to examine the effect of probiotics on body weight in greater detail. Collectively, the RCTs examined in this meta-analysis indicated that probiotics have limited efficacy in terms of decreasing body weight and BMI and were not effective for weight loss.
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Previous research demonstrated that resveratrol possesses promising properties for preventing obesity. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was proposed to be involved in the pathophysiology of both obesity and hepatic steatosis. In the current study, we hypothesized that resveratrol could protect against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hepatic steatosis and ER stress and regulate the expression of genes related to hepatic steatosis. ⋯ Resveratrol also decreased PKR-like ER kinase phosphorylation, although it was not affected by the HFD. Furthermore, resveratrol increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ, while decreasing the expression of ATP citrate lyase, suppressor of cytokine signaling-3, and interleukin-1β. Our data suggest that resveratrol can prevent hepatic ER stress and regulate the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ, ATP citrate lyase, suppressor of cytokine signaling-3, tumor necrosis factor α, and interleukin-1β in diet-induced obese rats, and these effects likely contribute to resveratrol's protective function against excessive accumulation of fat in the liver.