Hepatic Lipidomics Analysis Reveals the Ameliorative Effects of Highland Barley β-Glucan on Western Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Mice

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by marked imbalances in lipid storage and metabolism. Because the beneficial health effects of cereal β-glucan (BG) include lowering cholesterol and regulating lipid metabolism, BG may alleviate the imbalances in lipid metabolism observed during NAFLD. The aim of our study was to investigate whether BG from highland barley has an effect on western diet-induced NAFLD in mice. Using lipidomics, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of BG intervention, and identified potential lipid biomarkers. The results reveal that BG (300 mg/kg body weight) significantly alleviated liver steatosis. Lipidomics analysis demonstrated that BG also altered lipid metabolic patterns. We were able to identify 13 differentially regulated lipid species that may be useful as lipid biomarkers. Several genes in the hepatic lipid and cholesterol metabolism pathways were also modulated. These findings provide evidence that BG ameliorates NAFLD by altering liver lipid metabolites and regulating lipid metabolism-related genes.

Highland barley β-glucan alleviated western diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via increasing energy expenditure and regulating bile acid metabolism in mice

“…Additionally, in our previous study, it was found that HBG significantly unregulated the expressions of sterol 12α-hydroxylase (CYP8B1) and sterol 27-hydroxylase (CYP27A1). 30 Therefore, consistent with our hypothesis, these results suggest that HBG promotes the synthesis of BAs by activating both the classical and alternative pathways of BA synthesis, thus leading to cholesterol degradation.…”

“…All animal experiments were conducted as described in our previous study. 30 Five-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were housed under ambient conditions (temperature, 22 ± 2 °C; relative humidity, 55 ± 5%) using a 12 h alternate light/dark cycle. After a week of adaptive feeding, forty 5-week-old male mice (obtained from the Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center) were randomly divided into 5 groups as follows: the normal diet group (ND group), in which the mice were fed with a standard diet of AIN-93M; the western diet group (WD group), in which the mice were fed with a western high-fat diet (42% kcal from fat, TP26300, obtained from Trophic Animal Feed High-Tech Co., Ltd, Nantong, China) and 4.2% sugar water (containing 18.9 g L −1 sucrose and 23.1 g L −1 fructose); the low-dose highland barley BG intervention group (WD + 100 mg per kg body weight highland barley BG, LBG group); the high-dose highland barley BG intervention group (WD + 300 mg per kg body weight highland barley BG, HBG group) and the positive control group (WD + 20 mg per kg body weight orlistat, PC group).…”

“…The mRNA relative expressions in the tissue of the liver, ileum, and adipose tissues were analyzed using a method described in our previous study. 30 Primer sequences are available in the ESI, Table 1. †…”

“…Therefore, as an extension of our previous study, 30 we will investigate the effect of BG on NAFLD in WD-induced mice using metabolic tests coupled with the profiling of hepatic BAs. To understand the molecular mechanism, we also examined the effect of BG on FXR signaling in the liver and ileum.…”

The combined application of Hordeum vulgare and gut microbiota against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via network pharmacology approach

“…Notably, an animal test demonstrated that mice fed barley (Hordeum vulgare; HV) combined β-glucan (BG) for 10 weeks diminished the area of liver brosis and decreased the expression level of transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) 8 . Another report showed that the consumption of rich-BG can be hampered the fat absorption, leading to amelioration of NAFLD 9 .…”