Red cabbage microgreens modulation of gut microbiota is associated with attenuation of diet-induced obesity risk factors in a mouse model

Authors: WU, YANBEI - Beijing Advanced Innovation Center For Food Nutrition And Human Health, Beijing Technology & Busine; Pham, Quynhchi; WANG, YALI - Beijing Advanced Innovation Center For Food Nutrition And Human Health, Beijing Technology & Busine; HUANG, HAIQIU - University Of Maryland; JIANG, CHARLENE - University Of Maryland; YU, LIANGLI - University Of Maryland; Li, Robert; WANG, JING - Beijing Advanced Innovation Center For Food Nutrition And Human Health, Beijing Technology & Busine; Luo, Yaguang - Sunny; Wang, Thomas - Tom

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/6/2023
Publication Date: 8/26/2023
Citation: Wu, Y., Pham, Q., Wang, Y., Huang, H., Jiang, C., Yu, L., Li, R.W., Wang, J., Luo, Y., Wang, T.T. 2023. Red cabbage microgreens modulation of gut microbiota is associated with attenuation of diet-induced obesity risk factors in a mouse model. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 10.1039/d3fo01249b.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3FO01249B

Interpretive Summary: Dietary modulation of the gut microbiome may contribute to health promoting effects of a food. Cruciferous vegetable microgreens, such as red cabbage microgreen (RCMG), are of special interest due to the well documented health promoting effects compared to their mature counterparts. However, little is known of the biological effects of microgreens. The present study used a rodent diet-induced obesity model to investigate the effect of consuming RCMG on the gut microbiota. We found consumption of RCMG exerted profound impacts on microbial composition in mice. Specifically, the species diversity of mice on both low fat (LF) and high fat (HF) diets was significantly increased by consuming RCMG. In comparison to the LF control group, the intake of RCMG increased the gut Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio. Furthermore, an unidentified species of the Clostridiales order, increased by RCMG, was found to be negatively correlated with the hepatic cholesterol ester level in mice (r = -0.43, p < 0.05). In addition, RCMG significantly inhibited HF diet-induced elevation of the genus AF12, of which the abundance was positively correlated with body weight gain (r = 0.52, p < 0.01) and fecal bile acid in mice (r = 0.59, p < 0.01). Overall, our results demonstrated that consumption of RCMG in the diet can alter the gut microbiota, and attenuation of HF diet-induced body weight gain and altered cholesterol metabolism may be mediated through regulation of the gut microbiota. This study provide novel information on molecular regulation of the gut microbiome by red cabbage microgreen. The information will benefit basic and translational scientist working on research related to understanding interaction between food and the gut microbiome.

Technical Abstract: Cruciferous vegetable microgreens, such as red cabbage microgreen (RCMG), are of special interest due to the well documented health promoting effects compared to their mature counterparts. However, little is known of the biological effects of microgreens. The present study used a rodent diet-induced obesity model to investigate the effect of consuming RCMG on the gut microbiota. We found consumption of RCMG exerted profound impacts on microbial composition in mice. Specifically, the species diversity of mice on both low fat (LF) and high fat (HF) diets was significantly increased by consuming RCMG. In comparison to the LF control group, the intake of RCMG increased the gut Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio. Furthermore, an unidentified species of the Clostridiales order, increased by RCMG, was found to be negatively correlated with the hepatic cholesterol ester level in mice (r = -0.43, p < 0.05). In addition, RCMG significantly inhibited HF diet-induced elevation of the genus AF12, of which the abundance was positively correlated with body weight gain (r = 0.52, p < 0.01) and fecal bile acid in mice (r = 0.59, p < 0.01). Overall, our results demonstrated that consumption of RCMG in the diet can alter the gut microbiota, and attenuation of HF diet-induced body weight gain and altered cholesterol metabolism may be mediated through regulation of the gut microbiota.