Non-absorbable apple procyanidins prevent obesity associated with gut microbial and metabolomic changes

Abstract

Several studies have suggested that flavan-3-ols/procyanidins are associated with a reduced risk of developing obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, the role of highly polymeric procyanidins (PP), which are major non-absorbable flavonoids, in the biological effects, is not completely understood. Here, we show that 0.5% PP administration for 20 weeks alleviated obesity and regulate expression of genes related to lipid metabolism in C57BL/6J mice fed a high-fat/high-sucrose diet. PP-treatment attenuated weight gain and inflammatory effects including lipopolysaccharide and gut permeability. Additionally, metabolic urine profiling using high-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight/mass spectrometry demonstrated that PP-treatment decreased the levels of endogenous metabolites associated with insulin resistance. Furthermore, microbial 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the cecum demonstrated that PP administration markedly decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and increased eight times the proportion of Akkermansia. These data suggest that PPs influence the gut microbiota and the intestinal metabolome to produce beneficial effects on metabolic homeostasis.

Agaro-Oligosaccharides Regulate Gut Microbiota and Adipose Tissue Accumulation in Mice

“…This finding is consistent with our obtained data. In contrast, previous reports have described stated that polyphenols from cranberry and apple prevented high-fat-diet-induced obesity and increased the relative abundance of Akkermansia (45,46). Consequently, the relation between Akkermansia abundance and obesity remains controversial.…”

Chronic supplementation with dietary proanthocyanidins protects from diet‐induced intestinal alterations in obese rats

“…Interestingly, the current literature indicates that some flavonoids can reduce the intestinal inflammatory processes, protect the barrier integrity, and modulate the composition of the microbiota . Nevertheless, there are very few reported studies that relate the role of proanthocyanidins on intestinal inflammatory modulation in obesity . Due to the well‐reported effects of proanthocyanidins as anti‐inflammatory agents in other metabolic tissues , we hypothesize that these natural compounds might be effective at modulating obesity‐associated intestinal alterations.…”

Rethinking the Mechanism of the Health Benefits of Proanthocyanidins: Absorption, Metabolism, and Interaction with Gut Microbiota

“…introduced apple proanthocyanidins with a high DP to the same animal model (C57BL/6J mice) and similar results were observed. Besides that, an increasing Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio is associated with some metabolic syndrome conditions such as diabetes, obesity and chronic inflammation (Canfora, Jocken, & Blaak, ; Masumoto et al., ). A significant decrease in F/B ratio was discovered after treatment with apple polymeric proanthocyanidins (B type) and GSE (B type) (Jin et al., ).…”