Black raspberry extract can lower serum LDL cholesterol via modulation of gut microbial composition and serum bile acid profile in rats fed trimethylamine-N-oxide with a high-fat diet

Taehwan Lim; Kiuk Lee; Ryun Hee Kim; Kwang Hyun Cha; Song Yi Koo; Eun Chae Moon; Keum Taek Hwang

doi:10.1007/s10068-022-01079-y

Black raspberry extract can lower serum LDL cholesterol via modulation of gut microbial composition and serum bile acid profile in rats fed trimethylamine-N-oxide with a high-fat diet

Food Sci Biotechnol. 2022 Apr 10;31(8):1041-1051. doi: 10.1007/s10068-022-01079-y. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Authors

Taehwan Lim¹, Kiuk Lee¹, Ryun Hee Kim^{1

2}, Kwang Hyun Cha³, Song Yi Koo^{1

3}, Eun Chae Moon¹, Keum Taek Hwang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food and Nutrition, and Research Institute of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826 South Korea.
² BK21 FOUR Education and Research Team for Sustainable Food & Nutrition, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826 South Korea.
³ Natural Product Informatics Center, KIST Gangneung Institute of Natural Products, Gangneung, 25451 South Korea.

Abstract

Blood trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) has been associated with cardiovascular disease. Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis, BR) has been regarded to be beneficial for cardiovascular health. This study aimed to investigate how BR extract affects serum lipid profile, gut microbial composition, metabolites in rats fed TMAO with a high-fat diet. Dietary TMAO increased serum LDL cholesterol, while BR extract decreased its level. α-Diversity of gut microbiota was not changed; however, in the rats fed TMAO, Macellibacteroides and Mucispirillum were enriched, while Ruminococcaceae was reduced. The BR supplementation could restore Macellibacteroides, Clostridium, and Ruminococcaceae. The BR supplementation increased cecal hippuric acid and serum farnesoid X receptor-antagonistic bile acids, including ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), tauro-α-muricholic acid, and tauro-UDCA. The BR supplementation tended to upregulate Cyp7a1 and Abcg5 expressions while downregulating Srebf2 and Hmgcr expressions. BR extract affects the gut bacterial community and microbial metabolites, lowering serum LDL cholesterol in rats with elevated serum TMAO.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-022-01079-y.

Keywords: Black raspberry; FXR-antagonistic bile acid; Gut microbiota; Hippuric acid; Trimethylamine-N-oxide.