Beneficial Effects of Partly Milled Highland Barley on the Prevention of High-Fat Diet-Induced Glycometabolic Disorder and the Modulation of Gut Microbiota in Mice

Abstract

The nutritional functions of highland barley (HB) are superior to those of regular cereals and have attracted increasing attention in recent years. The objective of this study was to investigate whether partly milled highland barley (PHB) can regulate the serum glucose and lipid disorders of mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and to further explore their potential gut microbiota modulatory effect. Our results showed that PHB supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG) and improved oral glucose tolerance. Histological observations confirmed the ability of PHB to alleviate liver and intestine damage. Furthermore, the results of 16S amplicon sequencing revealed that PHB prevented a HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis, enriching some beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Ileibacterium, and reducing several HFD-dependent taxa (norank_f_Desulfovibrionaceae, Blautia, norank_f_Lachnospiraceae, unclassified_f_Lachnospiraceae, and Colidextribacter). In addition, the increase of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium presence has a slightly dose-dependent relationship with the amount of the added PHB. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were negatively correlated with the blood glucose level of the oral glucose tolerance test. Overall, our results provide important information about the processing of highland barley to retain its hypoglycemic effect and improve its acceptability and biosafety.

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis MN-Gup protects mice against gut microbiota-related obesity and endotoxemia induced by a high fat diet

“…Bilophila was reported to be related to fat growth ( 35 ) and Enterorhabdus was associated with diabetes or other metabolic diseases ( 36 ). The characteristic genus of L-MG group was Ileibacterium and this is consistent with previous research results ( 37 ). Lachnospiraceae is a characteristic family of H-MG group, which was believed to produce short-chain fatty acids to suppress obesity ( 38 , 39 ).…”

Microbiome-Metabolomics Analysis of the Impacts of Cryptosporidium muris Infection in BALB/C Mice

“…These bacteria can reduce sulfate to produce hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S). H 2 S can be toxic to aerobic organisms that possess the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase enzyme ( 27 ). H 2 S is also proinflammatory, which can promote the development of irritable bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer by disrupting cellular integrity ( 28 ).…”

Inulin accelerates weight loss in obese mice by regulating gut microbiota and serum metabolites

“…In contrast, the abundance of Ruminococcus obviously decreased after inulin treatment compared to the OND group. The Colidextribacter was considered a HFD-dependent taxa, and some functional foods (such as flavonoids from whole grain-oats and partially milled barley) could modulate the perturbation of Colidextribacter in HFD-induced mice ( 41 , 42 ). Consistent with our findings, mice fed an HFD significantly increased the abundance of Colidextribacter , which was reversed by inulin treatment compared to the OND group.…”