Oat beta-glucan inhibited obesity in mice though stem cell remodeling

Oat beta-glucan has been reported to be beneficial to glucose and lipid metabolism in human and animal studies. However, weight-loss was shown only in animal studies, whereas human studies reported an improvement in hyperlipidemia. This study investigated the effects of oat beta-glucan on obesity and related metabolic disturbances at the doses based on the Chinese recommended daily intake of 100 g of whole grains which contain approximately 10 % β-glucan. Our data showed that 200 mg/kg efficiently blocked the process of obesity as determined by significantly decreased body weight (7.57 g) and adipose tissue mass (5.24 g) after the 4-week intervention. Lower serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.32 mmol/L) and reduced atherosclerosis were also observed. Oat beta-glucan improved hepatic lipid metabolism at the low dose (100 mg/kg) and restored it to normal levels in lean mice at the high dose. To our knowledge, our study is the first to analyze the effects of oat beta-glucan on adipose stem cells and reveal the anti-obesity mechanism of oat β-glucan is modulating the adipose stem cell microenvironment. This study determined an efficient supplementary dose for blocking high-fat diet-induced obesity, which not only improved lipid metabolism but also altered stem cell composition in adipose tissue.