Abstract
Background: The damage to intestinal barrier function plays an important role in the development of obesity and associated diseases. Soy isoflavones are effective natural active components for controlling obesity and reducing the level of blood lipid. Here, we explored whether these effects of soy isoflavones were associated with the intestinal barrier function. Methods and Results: The obese rat models were established by high fat diet feeding. Then, those obese rats were supplemented with soy isoflavones at different doses for 4 weeks. Our results showed that obesity induced the expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines, decreased the anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) expression, elevated intestinal permeability, altered gut microbiota and exacerbated oxidative damages in colon. The administration of soy isoflavones reversed these changes in obese rats, presenting as the improvement of intestinal immune function and permeability, attenuation of oxidative damage, increase in the fraction of beneficial bacteria producing short-chain fatty acids and short-chain fatty acid production, and reduction in harmful bacteria. Furthermore, soy isoflavones blocked the expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB in the colons of the obese rats. Conclusions: Soy isoflavones could improve obesity through the attenuation of intestinal oxidative stress, recovery of immune and mucosal barrier, as well as re-balance of intestinal gut microbiota.
Highlights
Obesity is defined as a disease related to shortened life expectancy and multiple health problems [1]
Two doses of SIF obviously reduced the body weight (Figure 1b,c), and high-dose SIF significantly reduced the concentrations of TC, HDL and LDL compared with the HFD group and chow group (Figure 1f)
While no significant difference was shown in food intake among groups (Figure 1d)
Summary
Obesity is defined as a disease related to shortened life expectancy and multiple health problems [1]. The high prevalence of obesity and its related diseases is one of the major threats to public health, and there are approximately 0.5 billion obese and 1.4 billion overweight people worldwide [2]. Preventing obesity and its associated diseases is a major challenge to human. The role of intestine has gained more concerns. The damage to intestinal barrier function plays an important role in the development of obesity and associated diseases. Soy isoflavones are effective natural active components for controlling obesity and reducing the level of blood lipid. We explored whether these effects of soy isoflavones were associated with the intestinal barrier function.
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