Abstract
Diet-induced obesity is often associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis, lipid metabolism disorders, and chronic inflammation. Consumption of the pseudocereal Amaranthus mangostanus has multiple nutritional benefits. We investigated the effects of dietary amaranth on lipid metabolism and gut microbiota in high-fat (HF) diet-fed mice. C57BL/6J mice were provided either a control diet, HF diet, or HF diet containing 10% amaranth powder (Ama) for 8 weeks. Ama supplementation significantly reduced the levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and phospholipids in the liver. Moreover, Ama supplementation downregulated the expression of lipogenesis-related genes including Hmgcr, Fdt1, and Sgle in the liver. The gut microbiota analysis showed that Ama supplementation reversed HF diet-induced reduction in bacterial diversity and richness. Additionally, beta diversity analysis of the inter-group variability in community structure showed a clear separation between the HF and Ama groups. Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis revealed that 11 taxa were enriched in the Ama group, whereas 9 taxa were increased in the HF group. We found that family Porphyromonadaceae and unclassified S24-7 showed a strong positive and negative correlation with the lipid parameters, respectively. Taken together, these results indicated that dietary Ama may attenuate HF diet-induced deterioration of gut microbiota structure and hepatic lipid metabolism.