Traditional Mountain cheese microbiota and risk factors of metabolic syndrome

The aim of the study was to test the ability of cheese-resident lactic acid bacteria to produce health-promoting metabolites, such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and conjugated linoleic acids (CLA), showing anti-adipogenic, anti-diabetogenic and anti-inflammatory activity. Lactobacillus brevis FEM 1874 isolated from Traditional Mountain cheese, previously reported as GABA producer strain, was tested in vivo on mice suffering obesity and T2D. The results showed that Lb. brevis FEM 1874 survived gastro-intestinal digestion and showed some physiological effect into the animals. In vitro analysis will be performed for evaluating the effect of the diet on CLA production in cow’s rumen and milk at high altitude, and the ability of a CLA-producing strain to produce CLA in a human intestinal model. Metagenomic analysis of ruminal samples, in combination with the study of the microbiota and the lipidic profile of milk and cheese samples, will elucidate how the pasture, or in general a change of diet, is strictly related to a different lipidic and microbiological milk composition. This study would encourage the consumption of traditional mountain products, owing to their health-promoting properties. Furthermore, it would contribute to the development of new multifunctional foods, enriched with active metabolites.