Whole mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) supplementation prevents high-fat diet-induced obesity and disorders in a lipid profile and modulates gut microbiota in mice

• Published in: European journal of nutrition 2020-12, Vol.59 (8), p.3617-3634
• Main Authors: Hou, Dianzhi, Zhao, Qingyu, Yousaf, Laraib, Xue, Yong, Shen, Qun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abundance; Beans; Body weight gain; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Correlation analysis; Dietary supplements; Dysbacteriosis; Fatty liver; Flour; Glucose tolerance; High fat diet; Insulin; Intestinal microflora; Metabolic disorders; Microbiota; Nutrition; Obesity; Original Contribution; Public health; Risk factors; rRNA 16S; Steatosis; Vigna radiata
• ISSN: 1436-6207; 1436-6215
• DOI: 10.1007/s00394-020-02196-2

Purpose Obesity, a strong risk factor for metabolic disorder, has become a major impediment for public health globally. The objective of this study was to assess the anti-obesity effect of mung bean, and the relationship between the gut microbiota modulatory effects of mung bean and the prevention of obesity. Methods Thirty-two four-week-old male C57BL/6 J mice were divided into four groups: normal chow diet (NCD), high-fat diet (HFD), a high-fat diet supplemented with 30% whole mung bean flour (HFD-WMB), and a high-fat diet supplemented with 30% decorticated mung bean flour (HFD-DMB). The ability of a mung bean-based diet to combat obesity-related metabolic disorder was determined by assessing the changes in physiological, histological, biochemical parameters, and gut microbiota composition of mice with HFD-induced obesity at 12 weeks. Results Both of WMB and DMB supplementation can effectively alleviate HFD-induced lipid metabolic disorders, which was accompanied by a reduction in hepatic steatosis. However, the only supplementation with WMB significantly reduced HFD-induced body weight gain, fat accumulation, and adipocyte size, and ameliorated the glucose tolerance and insulin resistance by sensitizing insulin action. Furthermore, high-throughput pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA revealed that WMB and DMB supplementation could normalize HFD-induced gut microbiota dysbiosis. Especially, WMB and DMB supplementation significantly promoted the relative abundance of Akkermansia and Bifidobacterium , respectively, and both of them significantly restored the relative abundance of several HFD-dependent taxa back to normal status in this study. Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed that those genera are closely correlated with obesity-related indices. Conclusions Although WMB showed better beneficial effects on HFD-induced obesity in comparison with DMB, DMB still retained some health benefits. Moreover, the alleviation of HFD-induced changes by mung bean supplementation was, at least, partially conciliated by structural modulation of gut microbiota.