Oral administration of Flavonifractor plautii attenuates inflammatory responses in obese adipose tissue

Adipose tissue inflammation enhances the symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Flavonifractor plautii, a bacterium present in human feces, has been reported to participate in the metabolism of catechin in the gut. The precise function of F. plautii remains unclear. We assessed the immunoregulatory function of F. plautii both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, we showed that both viable and heat-killed F. plautii attenuated TNF-α transcript accumulation in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. For the in vivo experiment, male C57BL/6 were placed on a high-fat diet (HFD) for 11 weeks. During the final two weeks on the HFD, the animals were administered with F. plautii by once-daily oral gavage. The oral administration of F. plautii attenuated the increase in TNF-α transcription otherwise seen in the epididymal adipose tissue of HFD-fed obese mice (HFD + F. plautii). The composition of the microbial population (at the genus level) in the cecal contents of the HFD + F. plautii mice was altered considerably. In particular, the level of Sphingobium was decreased significantly, and that of Lachnospiraceae was increased significantly, in the HFD + F. plautii group. Obesity is closely associated with the development of inflammation in adipose tissue. F. plautii may be involved in inhibition of TNF-α expression in inflammatory environments. Our results demonstrated that F. plautii may be useful for alleviating the inflammatory responses of adipose tissue.