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.
Keywords: bile acids; gut microbiota; high amylose corn starch; nutritive obesity.