Probiotics Containing Collagen Peptides for Weight Loss and Improvement of Brain Disorders Caused by Obesity in a Mouse Model

Collagen peptide was identified as a prebiotic that can provide nitrogen and carbon sources for probiotics to achieve antiobesity, anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunoregulatory effects by improving the gut microbiota. Also, obesity is a high‐risk factor for psychological and cognitive diseases. This study used a commercialized collagen peptide probiotic (CPP) containing 12 strains of proprietary probiotics with collagen peptides from fish skin to evaluate weight control, fat formation, blood sugar control, and anxiety behavior effects in mice fed a high‐fat diet (HFD) or high‐carbohydrate diet (HCD) and compared the effects by the clinical weight loss drug orlistat (ORL). The results showed that CPP was more effective than ORL in slowing the weight gain in HCD‐ or HFD‐fed male mice. However, the effects of CPP and ORL in female mice were slightly different. Regardless of gender, CPP significantly reduced fat formation and improved glucose tolerance caused by HCD or HFD. Blood biochemical analysis also revealed that CPP could restore HCD‐ and HFD‐induced liver and kidney dysfunction in male but not in female mice. The total cholesterol, triglycerides, and leptin concentrations in the blood decreased with CPP compared to the ORL intervention. In addition, CPP alleviated HCD‐ and HFD‐induced anxiety in mice and improved their gut microbiota. This study confirmed that this CPP product has more antiobesity effects and can ameliorate other related damage caused by HCD and HFD than the clinical weight loss drug ORL. Thus, CPP has a strong potential to be widely used for human health promotion and disease prevention.