Inulin increases the beneficial effects of rhubarb supplementation on high-fat high-sugar diet-induced metabolic disorders in mice: impact on energy expenditure, brown adipose tissue activity, and microbiota

Abstract

Consumption of prebiotics and plant-based compounds have many beneficial health effects through modulation of gut microbiota composition and are considered as promising nutritional strategy for the treatment of metabolic diseases. In the present study, we assessed the separated and combined effects of inulin and rhubarb on diet-induced metabolic disease in mice. We showed that supplementation with both inulin and rhubarb abolished the total body and fat mass gain upon high-fat and high-sucrose diet (HFHS) as well as several obesity-associated metabolic disorders. These effects were associated with increased energy expenditure, lower whitening of the brown adipose tissue, higher mitochondria activity and increased expression of lipolytic markers in white adipose tissue. Despite modifications of intestinal gut microbiota and bile acid compositions by inulin or rhubarb alone, combination of both inulin and rhubarb had minor additional impact on these parameters. However, the combination of inulin and rhubarb increased the expression of several antimicrobial peptides and higher goblet cell numbers, thereby suggesting a reinforcement of the gut barrier. Together, these results suggest that the combination of inulin and rhubarb in mice potentiates beneficial effects of separated rhubarb and inulin on HFHS-related metabolic disease and could be considered as nutritional strategy for the prevention and treatment of obesity and related pathologies.

Wolfberry, Yam, and Chrysanthemum polysaccharides increased intestinal Akkermansia muciniphila abundance and hepatic YAP1 expression to alleviate DILI

“…And this study found that LYC markedly increased intestinal A. muciniphila abundance. Besides, LYC significantly increased the number of goblet cells, indicating a reinforcement of the intestinal barrier 42 . This reinforcement was accompanied by an enhancement of tight junctions, a reduction in inflammation and permeability within the gut.…”

“…Besides, LYC significantly increased the number of goblet cells, indicating a reinforcement of the intestinal barrier. 42 This reinforcement was accompanied by an enhancement of tight junctions, a reduction in inflammation and permeability within the gut. Consequently, the enhanced gut barrier subsequently inhibited LPS leakage and reduced the levels of proinflammatory factors in the liver.…”

Dietary fiber modulates gut microbiome and metabolome in a host sex-specific manner in a murine model of aging

“…Inulin is composed of 2-60 linear fructose units joined together via β-(1 → 2)-D-fructosyl-fructose glycosidic bonds along with a glucose unit at the terminal end attached via α-(1 → 2) linkage. Despite the increasing recognition of host sex as a major confounder in microbiome studies, the mechanistic preclinical studies exploring the health effects of inulin are largely confined to male rodents (Zhang et al, 2017;Du et al, 2020;Li et al, 2020;Shao et al, 2020;Régnier et al, 2023). Animal models are widely used for understanding the mechanistic and functional basis of health benefits imparted by dietary fibers but suffer from limitations of differences in their gut microbial community structure compared to humans (Li and Zhang, 2022).…”