Abstract
Societal lifestyle changes, especially increased consumption of a high-fat diet lacking dietary fibers, lead to gut microbiota dysbiosis and enhance the incidence of adiposity and chronic inflammatory disease. We aimed to investigate the metabolic effects of inulin with different degrees of polymerization on high-fat diet-fed C57BL/6 J mice and to evaluate whether different health outcomes are related to regulation of the gut microbiota. Short-chain and long-chain inulins exert beneficial effects through alleviating endotoxemia and inflammation. Antiinflammation was associated with a proportional increase in short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria and an increase in the concentration of short-chain fatty acids. Inulin might decrease endotoxemia by increasing the proportion of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, and their inhibition of endotoxin secretion may also contribute to antiinflammation. Interestingly, the beneficial health effects of long-chain inulin were more pronounced than those of short-chain inulin. Long-chain inulin was more dependent than short-chain inulin on species capable of processing complex polysaccharides, such as Bacteroides. A good understanding of inulin-gut microbiota-host interactions helps to provide a dietary strategy that could target and prevent high-fat diet-induced endotoxemia and inflammation through a prebiotic effect.
Highlights
Societal lifestyle changes, especially increased consumption of a high-fat diet lacking dietary fibers, lead to gut microbiota dysbiosis and enhance the incidence of adiposity and chronic inflammatory disease
The gut microbiota community can be modulated by prebiotics, such as inulins, which allows prebiotics to resist digestion in the upper intestinal tract; most of them are fermented in the colon
An increased ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) was observed in the HFD group, which was supported by a study showing that the F/B ratio in overweight human adults was lower than that in lean controls[13]
Summary
Especially increased consumption of a high-fat diet lacking dietary fibers, lead to gut microbiota dysbiosis and enhance the incidence of adiposity and chronic inflammatory disease. Linear carbohydrate polymers that consist of β-(2, 1) fructosyl-fructose linkages, are widely added to dairy products, such as milk drinks and desserts Because of their selective fermentation feature in the colon, inulins exhibit different characteristics from most dietary fibers[2]; they show beneficial effects through several gastrointestinal functions, including increasing mineral absorption[3] and systemic immunity[4], as well as decreasing the risks of intestinal infections[5], liver diseases[6], colon cancer[7], type II diabetes[8] and obesity[9]. The objective of this study was to evaluate how inulin with different degrees of polymerization modulated gut microbial ecology and host physiology, including mainly biochemical indicators, glucose metabolism and immunity, as well as to assess whether these microbial changes affect the host phenotype in high-fat diet-fed mice
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