【Animal Modeling】-Effects of intermittent fasting on intestinal flora and metabolism in pre-senile obese rats

  OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of intermittent fasting on metabolism and gut microbiota in pre-senile obese rats.

  METHODS: Female Wistar rats were fed with high-fat and high-sugar diet for 42 weeks, and model rats were selected according to body weight for intermittent fasting intervention. The intervention method was fasting for 72 h every 2 weeks, and the total intervention time was 18 weeks. After the intervention, four items of oral glucose tolerance test and blood lipids were detected. The feces were collected, the 16S rRNA gene V4 variable region was detected by Illumina high-throughput sequencing, and the intestinal flora was analyzed by QIIME and LEfSe.

  Results: Compared with the model control group, the body weight of the intermittent fasting group decreased significantly (P<0.01); both high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly decreased (P<0.05); fasting blood glucose was significantly increased (P<0.01) ; The area under the curve of glucose tolerance test was significantly higher than that of the model control group, indicating impaired glucose tolerance (P<0.05); HE staining showed that intermittent fasting slightly reduced hepatic steatosis. The results of the intestinal flora showed that the fasting group significantly improved the intestinal flora, which was manifested in the increase of YS2, RF32, Helicobacteraceae (Helicobacteraceae), Lactobacillus (Lactobacillus), Roseburia (Rothella), Erysipelotrichaceae (Villon) Cocciaceae), Ralstonia (Ralstonia), Bradyrhizobiaceae (Braghizobiaceae), and RF39 decreased. Spearman correlation analysis found that Bradyrhizobiaceae was positively correlated with total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; rat body weight was negatively correlated with RF39.

  CONCLUSION: Intermittent fasting can improve gut microbiota and reduce body weight and blood lipid levels in pre-senile obese rats, but it has adverse effects on glucose metabolism.