【Animal Modeling】-The effect of intermittent fasting on the intestinal flora and metabolism of obese rats

  Objective: To study the effect of intermittent fasting on metabolism and intestinal flora in elderly obese rats.

  Method: The female Wistar rats were fed a high-fat and high-sugar diet for 42 weeks to establish a model, and the model rats were selected for intermittent fasting according to their body weight. The intervention method is to fast for 72 hours every 2 weeks, and the total intervention time is 18 weeks. After the intervention, four oral glucose tolerance tests and blood lipid tests were performed. Stool was collected, the variable region of 16SRNA gene V4 was detected by Illumina's high-throughput sequencing, and the intestinal flora was analyzed by QIIME and LEfSe.

   Results: The body weight of the intermittent fasting group was significantly lower than that of the model control group (P\u003c0.01); HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were significantly reduced (P\u003c0.05); on an empty stomach. Blood glucose was significantly increased (P\u003c0.01); the area under the glucose tolerance test curve was significantly higher than that of the model control group, and glucose tolerance was impaired (P\u003c0.05); HE staining showed that intermittent fasting can be mild Reduce liver steatosis. The results of the intestinal flora were especially the increase of YS2, RF32, Helicobacteraceae, Lactobacillus, Rosbria (Roche), Elysiperotrica (Weilon) Coccus, Ralstonia solanacearum, Bradyrhizobiaceae (Bradyrhizobia). Spearman's correlation analysis found that Brachiosaurus was positively correlated with total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, while rat body weight was negatively correlated with RF39.

   Conclusion: Intermittent fasting can improve the intestinal flora of obese rats, reduce body weight and blood lipid levels, but it will adversely affect glucose metabolism.