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Microbes & Immunity Probiotics & obesity

Figure 1. Workflow of the scoping review

levels, with prominent increases in SCFA-producing demonstrated by reductions in hepatic triglyceride levels
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bacteria. Differences in experimental design, such as and the suppression of lipogenesis-related genes, including
strain concentration (e.g., 10 CFU/mouse) and diet- pparg and srebp1. However, much of the existing research is
9
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induced obesity models, complicate direct comparison. limited to murine models, highlighting the need for human
Furthermore, a critical evaluation of methodologies trials to validate these findings and address potential safety
reveals significant variability in gut microbiome analysis, concerns. 11
with some studies utilizing Shannon indices to assess alpha
diversity, while others employ more robust metrics, such 3.2. L. plantarum NCHBL – 004
as Bray–Curtis dissimilarity or weighted UniFrac analyses, A study by Jang et al. demonstrated that the oral
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to examine beta diversity. Despite these methodological administration of live L. plantarum NCHBL-004
disparities, converging evidence consistently supports attenuates weight gain in mice subjected to a high-fat
the role of L. plantarum in promoting hepatic health, as diet (HFD). Interestingly, heat-killed NCHBL-004 also

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 36 doi: 10.36922/mi.8358