TITLE:
Isolation and Characterization of Contaminating Bacteria from Garcinia cambogia Extract: Methods to Reduce Microbial Load and Its Anti-Obesity Effect in Wistar Rats
AUTHORS:
Raj Kumar Bhosale, Sasidharan Sakkan, Srinivasa Murthy Venkatramanappa, Shivaswamy Mathada Rudraiah, Kumaraswamy Rampur, Arulmozhi Sathiyanarayanan, Deepa Mandlik, Sanman Kolhe, Sadanand Yewale, Sriram Padmanabhan
KEYWORDS:
Garcinia cambogia, Hydroxy Citric Acid, Picrorhiza kurroa, Liver Health, ATP Citrate Lyase
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.13 No.7,
July
29,
2022
ABSTRACT: Objectives: This study aimed to identify the contaminating bacteria
in the extract of Garcinia cambogia, which is regularly used as a dietary
supplement for addressing obesity in humans. Methods: The Garcinia cambogia extract was used and experiments were conducted to isolate
the contaminating bacteria and antibiotic susceptibility was tested. The organism
was identified using BIOLOG system. Such an extract was used in a placebo-controlled
animal study when 6 eight adult male rats weighing between 200 and 220 g were randomly
distributed into three groups (n = 3) and in test group 1, a single dose of 100 mg/kg bw of Garcinia cambogia extract was given while in the test group 2, 100 mg Garcinia cambogia extract + 116 mg Picrorhiza kurroa extract were administered through
oral gavage. The normal control rats were given distilled water, and the treatment
lasted for 30 days. Blood plasma and liver tissues were prepared for biochemical
analysis and histology studies. Results: Nearly ~103 cfu/g of Bacillus atrophaeus was present in the Garcinia cambogia extract and we demonstrate >99%
reduction in the microbial load with tetracycline. Such an extract at a dose of
100 mg/kg, showed weight loss in Wistar rats when administered orally for 1 month
with no significant changes in liver histopathology. Picrorhiza kurroa, also known
for its hepatoprotective properties, has been administered at a dose of 116 mg/kg
along with Garcinia extract at 100 mg/kg
orally and found to improve levels of hepatic enzymes as similar to control animals,
although not statistically significant. Conclusions: The study revealed that Garcinia cambogia could prevent weight gain in Wistar rats when given orally
and the weight gain in Garcinia-treated
animals was almost 4 times less (7.31%), as against weight gain of 25.36% seen in
vehicle control animals. The antibiotic susceptibility data indicated that the isolated
bacterium is resistant to many antibiotics with a strong susceptibility to tetracycline.