Caloric restriction promotes rapid expansion and long-lasting increase of Lactobacillus in the rat fecal microbiota

Previous studies indicated that caloric restricted diet enables to lower significantly the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In experimental animal models, life-long lasting caloric restriction (CR) was demonstrated to induce changes of the intestinal microbiota composition, regardless of fat content and/or exercise. To explore the potential impact of short and long-term CR treatment on the gut microbiota, we conducted an analysis of fecal microbiota composition in young and adult Fisher 344 rats treated with a low fat feed under ad libitum (AL) or CR conditions (70%). We report here significant changes of the rat fecal microbiota that arise rapidly in young growing animals after short-term administration of a CR diet. In particular, Lactobacillus increased significantly after 8 weeks of CR treatment and its relative abundance was significantly higher in CR vs AL fed animals after 36 weeks of dietary intervention. Taken together, our data suggest that Lactobacillus intestinal colonization is hampered in AL fed young rats compared to CR fed ones, while health-promoting CR diet intervention enables the expansion of this genus rapidly and persistently up to adulthood.