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Published on: July 31, 2019
Eicosapentaenoic and Docosahexaenoic Acids Differentially Alter Gut Microbiome and Reverse High-Fat Diet-Induced
Pan Zhuang1, Yu Zhang1, Qiyang Shou2
1Zhejiang Key Laboratory for Agro-Food Processing, Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Postharvest Handling of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China.
Scope:
To assess the individual effects of dietary eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on insulin resistance (IR), gut microbiome, and gut metabolites in high-fat-diet-induced obese (DIO) mice.
Methods And Results:
DIO mice are fed an either high-fat diet (HFD), EPA (1% w/w) enriched HFD, or DHA (1% wt/wt) enriched HFD for 15 weeks. Both EPA and DHA supplements reverse hyperglycemia and IR but do not affect body weight in DIO mice while DHA exhibits a more pronounced ameliorative effect in male mice. Both EPA- and DHA-enriched Lactobacillus and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-producing species from Lachnospiraceae while reduced lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-producing Bilophila and Escherichia/Shigella. Compared with EPA, DHA-supplemented mice have more abundant propionic/butyric acid-producing bacteria, including Coprococcus, Butyricimonas synergistica, Bacteroides acidifaciens, and Intestinimonas, and less-abundant LPS-correlated species Streptococcus and p-75-a5. The shifts in gut microbiome co-occurred with the changes in levels of propionic/butyric acid, circulating LPS, and serotonin. Additionally, EPA/DHA supplementation attenuates adipose inflammation with upregulated glucose transporter 4 and Akt phosphorylation, indicating the improvement of insulin signaling.
Conclusion:
EPA and DHA differentially reverse IR and relieve adipose inflammation while modulating gut microbiome and SCFAs/LPS production, underscoring the gut-adipose axis as a primary target of EPA/DHA.
