Mulberry leaf and konjac flour compound dietary fiber improves digestion and metabolism in elderly mice with high-fish-protein diet by regulating gut microbiota structure and intestinal tissue repair

Liling Deng; Geng Zhong; Qiong Wang; Zhaojing Zhu; Yongbo Peng

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101295

Mulberry leaf and konjac flour compound dietary fiber improves digestion and metabolism in elderly mice with high-fish-protein diet by regulating gut microbiota structure and intestinal tissue repair

Food Chem X. 2024 Mar 16:22:101295. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101295. eCollection 2024 Jun 30.

Authors

Liling Deng^{1

2}, Geng Zhong³, Qiong Wang¹, Zhaojing Zhu¹, Yongbo Peng²

Affiliations

¹ Chongqing Key Laboratory of High Active Traditional Chinese Drug Delivery System, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing Medical and Pharmaceutical College, Chongqing 401331, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Chongqing Key Laboratory for Pharmaceutical Metabolism Research, College of Pharmacy, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, PR China.
³ College of Food Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China.

Abstract

Ensuring sufficient protein intake, efficient digestion, and optimal absorption are crucial for the elderly. This study aims to investigate the potential of a compound dietary fiber, consisting of mulberry leaf and konjac flour (CMK), to enhance the digestion and absorption of a high-fish-protein diet in elderly mice. Results showed that CMK effectively reduced the number of unique peptide segments, generated short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in feces, improved the content of glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), amino acid, and urea nitrogen in serum, activated the contents of pepsin, trypsin, and erepsin, and enhanced the expression of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), peptide transporter 1 (PepT1), and aminopeptidase N (APN). Furthermore, CMK demonstrated its ability to decrease the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-10 (IL-10), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), while increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus and Blautia. In conclusion, CMK proved effective in enhancing the digestion and metabolism of protein in elderly mice through the regulation of gut microbiota structure and intestinal tissue repair.

Keywords: Elderly mice; Gastrointestinal tissue; Gut microbiota; Mulberry leaf and konjac flour compound dietary fiber; Protein metabolism.