High-Amylose Corn Starch Regulated Gut Microbiota and Serum Bile Acids in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice.

High-amylose corn starch is well known for its anti-obesity activity, which is mainly based on the regulatory effects on gut microbiota. Recently, the gut microbiota has been reported to improve metabolic health by altering circulating bile acids. Therefore, in this study, the influence of high-amylose corn starch (HACS) on intestinal microbiota composition and serum bile acids was explored in mice fed with a high fat diet (HFD). The results demonstrated HACS treatment reduced HFD-induced body weight gain, hepatic lipid accumulation, and adipocyte hypertrophy as well as improved blood lipid profiles. Moreover, HACS also greatly impacted the gut microbiota with increased Firmicutes and decreased Bacteroidetes relative abundance being observed. Furthermore, compared to ND-fed mice, the mice with HFD feeding exhibited more obvious changes in serum bile acids profiles than the HFD-fed mice with the HACS intervention, showing HACS might restore HFD-induced alterations to bile acid composition in blood. In summary, our results suggested that the underlying mechanisms of anti-obesity activity of HACS may involve its regulatory effects on gut microbiota and circulating bile acids.

The effect of dealuminated jellyfish in mitigating toxicity on mice exposed to aluminum.

In the present study, the removal effect of dealuminated jellyfish on Aluminum (Al) in mice was evaluated. The results showed that the consumption of dealuminated jellyfish significantly decreased Al accumulation in the liver of mice, indicating an Al-removing effect of dealuminated jellyfish on Al-enriched mice. In addition, the effect of dealuminated jellyfish consumption on an Al-overload model was further evaluated. The result showed that the Al content in different tissues and organs of mice was significantly reduced, but it had no significant effect on the other metallic element content. These results indicated that the samples from oral administration have a certain Al-removing effect in Al-overloaded mice. Moreover, the cluster analysis of differentially expressed proteins in blood and liver showed that a high dose of dealuminated jellyfish improve the expression of amine oxidase B and enhance the effect of Al discharge.