Importance of propionate for the repression of hepatic lipogenesis and improvement of insulin sensitivity in high‐fat diet‐induced obesity

Abstract

ScopeThe SCFA acetate (Ac) and propionate (Pr) are major fermentation products of dietary fibers and provide additional energy to the host. We investigated short‐ and long‐term effects of dietary Ac and Pr supplementation on diet‐induced obesity and hepatic lipid metabolism.Methods and resultsC3H/HeOuJ mice received high‐fat (HF) diets supplemented with 5% SCFA in different Ac:Pr ratios, a high acetate (HF‐HAc; 2.5:1 Ac:Pr) or high Pr ratio (HF‐HPr; 1:2.5 Ac:Pr) for 6 or 22 weeks. Control diets (low‐fat (LF), HF) contained no SCFA. SCFA did not affect body composition but reduced hepatic gene and protein expression of lipogenic enzymes leading to a reduced hepatic triglyceride concentration after 22 weeks in HF‐HPr mice. Analysis of long‐chain fatty acid composition (liver and plasma phospholipids) showed that supplementation of both ratios led to a lower ω6:ω3 ratio. Pr directly led to increased odd‐chain fatty acid (C15:0, C17:0) formation as confirmed in vitro using HepG2 cells. Remarkably, plasma C15:0 was correlated with the attenuation of HF diet‐induced insulin resistance.ConclusionDependent on the Ac:Pr ratio, especially odd‐chain fatty acid formation and insulin sensitivity are differentially affected, indicating the importance of Pr.

Short-chain fatty acids and inulin, but not guar gum, prevent diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance through differential mechanisms in mice

“…As previously described 20 , OCFA levels negatively correlated with the insulin area under the curves during OGTT (Supplementary Figure 2C). OCFA are a biomarker for intestinal dietary fibre fermentation and Pr formation 25 , which underlines the particular importance of Pr for the insulin sensitizing effects during the OGTT.…”

A Two‐Week Treatment with Plant Extracts Changes Gut Microbiota, Caecum Metabolome, and Markers of Lipid Metabolism in ob/ob Mice

“…In particular, mice treated with Pum and those treated with Mel displayed higher caecal levels of propionate than control mice. It is also noteworthy that Pum induced a substantial reduction in plasma TG, which could be mechanistically linked to the observed increase in propionate, as previously reported . The increase in propionate and reduction in TG were associated with a change in hepatic gene expression but not with a modulation of glucose metabolism.…”

Hypolipidemic and Hepatoprotective Effects of High-Polydextrose Snack Food on Swiss Albino Mice

“…e weight of the high-fat diet mice was roughly 12.9% and 6.7% higher than that of the control diet and highfat and fiber diet mice, respectively. Similarly, recent studies demonstrate that wheat fiber and phytochemicals isolated from wheat bran suppress body weight gain in high-fat dietfed mice [11]. In addition, bamboo shoot fiber also shows an effective role in suppressing high-fat diet-induced obesity than soluble fibers [12].…”