Metabolomic Characteristics of Cecum Contents in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Obese Mice Intervened with Different Fibers

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of single or mixed fibers (arabinoxylan, β-glucan, xyloglucan, and inulin) on the metabolome of cecum content in mice with obesity caused by a high-fat diet. Twenty-eight six-week-old male mice were divided randomly into seven groups (n = 4/group),...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qian Zhang, Jinhua Cheng, Xiaole Jiang, Junni Tang, Chenglin Zhu, Hong Chen, Luca Laghi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-03-01
Series:Foods
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/12/7/1403
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Summary:The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effect of single or mixed fibers (arabinoxylan, β-glucan, xyloglucan, and inulin) on the metabolome of cecum content in mice with obesity caused by a high-fat diet. Twenty-eight six-week-old male mice were divided randomly into seven groups (n = 4/group), including a normal-diet group (CON), a high-fat-diet group (HFD), and groups with the same high-fat diet but supplemented with arabinoxylan (HFAX), arabinoxylan + β-glucan (HFAβ), arabinoxylan + xyloglucan (HFAG), xyloglucan (HFXG), and xyloglucan + inulin (HFXI). A total of 66 molecules were identified and quantified in cecum content by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (<sup>1</sup> H-NMR). The metabolomic profiles combined with statistical analysis revealed compounds distinguishing the control group from those supplemented with fibers. In detail, a high-fat diet could significantly elevate the concentrations of acetone and methionine (<i>p</i> < 0.05) while decreasing the levels of methanol, arabinose, acetate, and 3-hydroxyphenylacetate (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in the cecum contents of mice. Compared to HFD, the supplementation caused higher levels of fumarate and hypoxanthine (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and lower levels of phenylacetate, acetate, fucose, formate, proline, betaine, and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). An enrichment analysis highlighted that the pathways mainly altered were amino sugar metabolism, aspartate metabolism, and arginine and proline metabolism. In conclusion, non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) supplementation could change the metabolomic profiles of cecum contents in obese mice as a result of a high-fat diet. Moreover, mixed NSPs exhibited more beneficial effects than singular form on gut metabolism.
ISSN:2304-8158