Abstract
Enterohepatic circulation of 12α-hydroxylated (12αOH) bile acid (BA) is enhanced depending on the energy intake in high-fat diet-fed rats. Such BA metabolism can be reproduced using a diet supplemented with cholic acid (CA), which also induces simple steatosis, without inflammation and fibrosis, accompanied by some other symptoms that are frequently observed in the condition of non-alcoholic fatty liver in rats. We investigated whether supplementation of the diet with raffinose (Raf) improves hepatic lipid accumulation induced by the CA-fed condition in rats. After acclimation to the AIN-93-based control diet, male Wistar rats were fed diets supplemented with a combination of Raf (30 g/kg diet) and/or CA (0.5 g/kg diet) for 4 weeks. Dietary Raf normalised hepatic triglyceride levels (two-way ANOVA P<0.001 for CA, P=0.02 for Raf, and P=0.004 for interaction) in the CA-supplemented diet-fed rats. Dietary Raf supplementation reduced hepatic 12αOH BA concentration (two-way ANOVA P<0.001 for CA, P=0.003 for Raf, and P=0.03 for interaction). The concentration of 12αOH BA was reduced in the aortic and portal plasma. Raf supplementation increased acetic acid concentration in the caecal contents (two-way ANOVA P=0.001 as a main effect). Multiple regression analysis revealed that concentrations of aortic 12αOH BA and caecal acetic acid could serve as predictors of hepatic triglyceride concentration (R2=0.55, P<0.001). However, Raf did not decrease the secondary 12αOH BA concentration in the caecal contents as well as the transaminase activity in the CA diet-fed rats. These results imply that dietary Raf normalises hepatic lipid accumulation via suppression of enterohepatic 12αOH BA circulation.
7alpha-Dehydroxylation of cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid by Clostridium leptum.
