Biological Activities of Fructooligosaccharides Produced by Aspergillus aculeatus in Mice Fed a High-fat Diet and Caco-2 Cell

Abstract

We investigated the effects of the dietary supplement of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on intestinal bacteria, blood cholesterol and mineral absorption in the Balb/c mice fed a high-fat diet. Mice were divided into four groups: Normal control (Balb/c mice fed normal diet), High fat control (Balb/c mice fed 60% fat diet), HF-FOS 5% (Balb/c mice fed 60% fat and 5% FOS diet), and HF-FOS 10% (Balb/c mice fed 60% fat and 10% FOS diet). We used an in vitro assay to evaluate whether the direct effects of FOS on calcium and magnesium transport improve absorption in the differentiated Caco-2 cell. The dietary supplementation with FOS resulted in a significant increase in Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the feces and large intestine compared with the high fat control group. We found that dietary supplementation with FOS suppressed weight gain, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia induction by the high-fat diet although food consumption by the HF-FOS 5% and HF-FOS 10% groups was higher compared to the high fat control. Furthermore, the blood concentrations of calcium and magnesium that were lowered by the high fat diet were significantly increased in the HF-FOS 5% and HF-FOS 10% groups even though the absorption of calcium and magnesium following FOS treatment was low in the in vitro assay. Overall, these results suggest that dietary supplementation with FOS can help prevent a wide range of ailments induced by chronic high fat diet intake.