Consumption of soybean or olive oil at recommended concentrations increased the intestinal microbiota diversity and insulin sensitivity and prevented fatty liver compared to the effects of coconut oil

• Published in: The Journal of nutritional biochemistry 2021-08, Vol.94, p.108751-108751, Article 108751
• Main Authors: López-Salazar, Valeria, Tapia, Mónica Sánchez, Tobón-Cornejo, Sandra, Díaz, Daniel, Alemán-Escondrillas, Gabriela, Granados-Portillo, Omar, Noriega, Lilia, Tovar, Armando R, Torres, Nimbe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: coconut oil; hepatic steatosis; inflammation; insulin sensitivity; microbiota; mitochondrial function; Olive oil; soybean oil
• ISSN: 0955-2863; 1873-4847
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2021.108751

•The gut microbiota is dependent on the type of oil that is consumed.•An excess of any type of oil reduces the alpha diversity.•Soybean oil produced the highest gut microbiota diversity and insulin sensitivity.•Olive oil consumption increases the Bifidobacterium genus in the gut microbiota.•Coconut oil consumption produced metabolic endotoxemia and hepatic steatosis.•A lack of PPARα alters the gut microbiota, regardless of the type of oil. Diets rich in mono or polyunsaturated fats have been associated with a healthy phenotype, but there is controversial evidence about coconut oil (CO), which is rich in saturated medium-chain fatty acids. Therefore, the purpose of the present work was to study whether different types of oils rich in polyunsaturated (soybean oil, SO), monounsaturated (olive oil, OO), or saturated fatty acids (coconut oil, CO) can regulate the gut microbiota, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, mitochondrial function in wild type and PPARα KO mice. The group that received SO showed the highest microbial diversity, increase in Akkermansia muciniphila, high insulin sensitivity and low grade inflammation, The OO group showed similar insulin sensitivity and insulin signaling than SO, increase in Bifidobacterium, increase in fatty acid oxidation and low grade inflammation. The CO consumption led to the lowest bacterial diversity, a 9-fold increase in the LPS concentration leading to metabolic endotoxemia, hepatic steatosis, increased lipogenesis, highest LDL-cholesterol concentration and the lowest respiratory capacity and fatty acid oxidation in the mitochondria. The absence of PPARα decreased alpha diversity and increased LPS concentration particularly in the CO group, and increased insulin sensitivity in the groups fed SO or OO. These results indicate that consuming mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids produced health benefits at the recommended intake but a high concentration of oils (three times the recommended oil intake in rodents) significantly decreased the microbial alpha-diversity independent of the type of oil. [Display omitted]