In the present study, thirty two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from fermented Indian herbal medicine. In comparison to other strains, MNL5 had stronger bile salt hydrolase (BSH) and cholesterol-lowering properties. Furthermore, it can withstand the extreme conditions found in the GI tract, due to, e.g., pepsin, bile salts, pancreatin, and acids. Pediococcus acidilactici MNL5 was identified as a probiotic candidate after sequencing the 16S rRNA gene. The antibacterial activity of P. acidilactici MNL5 cell-free supernatants (CFS) against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Helicobacter pylori, Bacillus cereus, and Candida albicans was moderate. A Caenorhabditis elegans experiment was also performed to assess the effectiveness of P. acidilactici MNL5 supplementation to increase life span compared to E. coli supplementation (DAF-2 and LIU1 models) (p < 0.05). An immense reduction of the lipid droplets of C. elegans was identified through a fluorescent microscope. The drastic alteration of the expression of fat genes is related to obesity phenotypes. Hence, several paths are evolutionary for C. elegans; the results of our work highlight the nematode as an important model for obesity.
Keywords: C. elegans; Pediococcus acidilactici; cholesterol-lowering ability; lipid reduction; qPCR.