Abstract:The effects of buffalo milk fermented with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum B (LPB) and yogurt starter on blood pressure and gut microbiota structure and function were assessed using pregnant rats. The rats (10 weeks old) were randomly divided into a fermented buffalo milk group (YT), labetalol hydrochloride positive control group (PC), and negative control group (NC), with five rats per group. Starting from the 1st day of pregnancy, the rats in groups YT, PC, and NC were respectively gavaged with 10 mL of 20 mg/kg fermented buffalo milk, 10 mL of 4 mg/kg labetalol hydrochloride, and 10 mL of normal saline once a day for 21 days. Modeling was initiated on day 15 of pregnancy, with daily injections of N-nitro-Larginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME, 125 mg/kg) until delivery, and blood pressure and microbial composition of colonic contents were measured daily. Blood pressure in group YT was significantly reduced by induction with L-NAME and was significantly lower than that in the post-induced group NC (P<0.05) but was not significantly different from that of group YT or group PC (P>0.05). Compared with group NC, group YT exhibited lower abundance of Firmicutes and higher abundance of Rothia, Bifidobacterium, Bacteroides, and Parabacteroides (P<0.05), and the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes was reduced from 10.46 to 3.74. Fermented milk intake also significantly promoted folate and sphingolipid biosynthesis while significantly increasing the levels of acetic acid and isovaleric acid. This study demonstrates that buffalo milk fermented with LPB can aid in stabilizing blood pressure in pregnant rats by improving their gut microbiota structure, indicating great potential as a new functional food to improve prenatal health.
