Effects of red meat diet on gut microbiota in mice

Xiaoyan Liu,Fang Tan,Danping Li,Min Cui,Ping Yao

doi:10.1590/fst.28321

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate the effect of red meat diet on gut microbiota in mice. Balb/c mice at weaning were randomized into control group and red meat groups with different proportions (25%, 50%, and 75%). Mice were fed with a standard pellet diet as control group, while those were fed with different proportions of red meat diet as red meat groups. After 8 weeks, they were sacrificed and their intestinal contents were obtained for 16S rRNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Our results showed that there were significant-structural differences among the four groups. The top-two most abundant phylum were Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. In the red meat groups, the abundance of Bacteroidetes was increased, but the abundance of Firmicutes was decreased. At the family level, Bacteroidaceae and Family XIII were significantly higher in the high-dose group than those in the control group. There were also significant differences in abundance of many genera. In conclusion, different proportions of red meat diet may lead to changes in gut microbial flora in mice. These changes may be pathological and may be related to the frequent occurrence of many diseases.

Highlights

The interaction between the gut microbiota and the host is crucial for maintaining homeostasis and body health (Jiang & Schnabl, 2020)
Practical Application: We evaluated the effect of red meat diet on gut microbiota in mice
We found that different proportions of red meat diet may lead to changes in gut microbial flora in mice

Summary

Introduction

The interaction between the gut microbiota and the host is crucial for maintaining homeostasis and body health (Jiang & Schnabl, 2020). Microbiota facilitates carbohydrate digestion (Makki et al, 2018), bile acid metabolism (Wang et al, 2020), maintenance of the integrity of gut barrier against pathogen infection (Mendes et al, 2019), and vitamin synthesis (Yatsunenko et al, 2012). The gut microbiota is associated with the pathogenesis of many diseases, including Colon Cancer (Birt & Phillips, 2014), Cardiovascular (Scarmozzino et al, 2020) and liver diseases. The composition of the gut microbiota may be affected by many factors in the host, including physiology, pathology, living environment, immune system and lifestyle (Butel et al, 2018). Foods are mainly digested and absorbed in the stomach and small intestine, but a substantial quantity of foods may enter the large intestine and alter the diversity of gut bacteria (van Hylckama Vlieg et al, 2011; Rist et al, 2013)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion