Bacillus megaterium 1259 Limits Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Mice with Established Diet-Induced Obesity: Paired Hepatic Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling
4 affiliations
- 1Experimental Conditions Support Center, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221004, China
- 2School of Basic Medicine and Life Sciences, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221004, China
- 3School of Medical Imaging, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221004, China
- 4School of First Clinical Medical, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221004, China
Abstract
Background: Obesity promotes ectopic lipid deposition and hepatic steatosis, a central feature of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. Because microbial effects are strain- and model-specific, whether Bacillus megaterium 1259 (BM1259) affects established diet-induced obesity remains unclear. We evaluated BM1259 during continued high-fat diet (HFD) exposure and examined accompanying hepatic changes. Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice received an HFD for 12 weeks before assignment to HFD + PBS or HFD + BM1259 groups; normal-diet mice served as controls. BM1259 (1 × 1010 CFU/mouse/day) was administered by intragastric gavage for 8 weeks during continued HFD feeding. Phenotypic, biochemical, and histopathological assessments were combined with hepatic RNA sequencing, untargeted metabolomics, and paired multi-omics analysis. Results: Body weight was significantly lower in the HFD + BM1259 group at the intervention endpoint. BM1259 administration was also associated with lower body-weight-normalized iWAT and liver weights, a smaller mean iWAT adipocyte area, and lower hepatic triglyceride content and Oil Red O-positive area. Serum LDL-C, ALT, and fasting blood glucose were lower, whereas the reduction in ipGTT AUC did not reach statistical significance. Hepatic transcriptomic differences involved genes related to lipid uptake, synthesis, lipoprotein handling, and fatty-acyl processing. Metabolomic differences included features related to choline–glycerophospholipid, sphingolipid, steroid-related, and acylcarnitine metabolism. Exploratory paired analysis suggested possible associations between gene expression and metabolite abundance. Conclusions: BM1259 was associated with lower obesity-related and hepatic lipid burden during continued HFD exposure and warrants further investigation as a candidate microbial intervention.
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BibTeX
@article{an2026bacillus,
title = {{Bacillus megaterium 1259 Limits Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Mice with Established Diet-Induced Obesity: Paired Hepatic Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling}},
author = {Yunfei An and Jiatian Yu and Xinyu Zhang and Ziyu Su and Meiyang Dong and Jingyi Wang and Zixuan Zhang and Tianyu Yang},
journal = {Nutrients},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/nu18213687},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3687},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Bacillus megaterium 1259 Limits Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Mice with Established Diet-Induced Obesity: Paired Hepatic Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling
AU - Yunfei An
AU - Jiatian Yu
AU - Xinyu Zhang
AU - Ziyu Su
AU - Meiyang Dong
AU - Jingyi Wang
AU - Zixuan Zhang
AU - Tianyu Yang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
JO - Nutrients
DO - 10.3390/nu18213687
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/21/3687
AB - Background: Obesity promotes ectopic lipid deposition and hepatic steatosis, a central feature of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. Because microbial effects are strain- and model-specific, whether Bacillus megaterium 1259 (BM1259) affects established diet-induced obesity remains unclear. We evaluated BM1259 during continued high-fat diet (HFD) exposure and examined accompanying hepatic changes. Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice received an HFD for 12 weeks before assignment to HFD + PBS or HFD + BM1259 groups; normal-diet mice served as controls. BM1259 (1 × 1010 CFU/mouse/day) was administered by intragastric gavage for 8 weeks during continued HFD feeding. Phenotypic, biochemical, and histopathological assessments were combined with hepatic RNA sequencing, untargeted metabolomics, and paired multi-omics analysis. Results: Body weight was significantly lower in the HFD + BM1259 group at the intervention endpoint. BM1259 administration was also associated with lower body-weight-normalized iWAT and liver weights, a smaller mean iWAT adipocyte area, and lower hepatic triglyceride content and Oil Red O-positive area. Serum LDL-C, ALT, and fasting blood glucose were lower, whereas the reduction in ipGTT AUC did not reach statistical significance. Hepatic transcriptomic differences involved genes related to lipid uptake, synthesis, lipoprotein handling, and fatty-acyl processing. Metabolomic differences included features related to choline–glycerophospholipid, sphingolipid, steroid-related, and acylcarnitine metabolism. Exploratory paired analysis suggested possible associations between gene expression and metabolite abundance. Conclusions: BM1259 was associated with lower obesity-related and hepatic lipid burden during continued HFD exposure and warrants further investigation as a candidate microbial intervention.
SN - 2072-6643
ER -