Isolation and Characterization of Contaminating Bacteria from Garcinia cambogia Extract: Methods to Reduce Microbial Load and Its Anti-Obesity Effect in Wistar Rats

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.