AUTHOR=Li Xiaoya , Deng Na , Zheng Tao , Qiao Bo , Peng Maijiao , Xiao Nenqun , Tan Zhoujin 

TITLE=Importance of Dendrobium officinale in improving the adverse effects of high-fat diet on mice associated with intestinal contents microbiota

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.957334

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2022.957334

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=A growing body of evidence suggests that the disturbance of intestinal microbiota induced by high-fat diet is the main factor causing many diseases. Dendrobium officinale (DO), a medicinal and edible homologous Chinese herbal medicine, plays essential roles in regulating intestinal microbiota.  However, the extent of DO on the intestinal contents microbiota in mice fed with high-fat diet still remains unclear. Therefore, this study explored the role of intestinal contents microbiota in the regulation of adverse effects caused by high-fat diet by DO from the perspective of intestinal microecology. Twenty-four mice were randomly distributed into normal saline-treated basal diet (bcn), normal saline-treated  high-fat diet (bmn), 2.37 g ·kg−1 ·days−1 DO traditional decoction-treated high-fat diet (bdn) and 1.19 g ·kg−1 ·days−1 lipid-lowering decoction-treated high-fat diet (bjn) groups for 40 days. Subsequently, we assessed the changes of body weight, serum total cholesterol (TC), total triacylglycerol (TG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and the characteristics of intestinal contents microbiota.  Results demonstrated that DO exerted the modulating effect on  the changes of body weight, TG, TC, LDL-C and HDL-C levels. Besides, DO decreased the richness and diversity of intestinal contents microbiota, and altered the structure as a whole. Dominant bacteria Ruminococcus and Oscillospira varied significantly and statistically. Moreover, DO influenced the carbohydrate, amino acid and energy metabolic functions. Furthermore, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira presented varying degrees of inhibition/promotion of TG, TC, LDL-C and HDL-C. Consequently, we hypothesized that Ruminococcus and Oscillospira, as the main dominant bacteria, played the key roles in the treatment of diseases associated with a high-fat diet by DO.