Abstract
Increasing studies have shown that obesity is the primary cause of cardiovascular diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, type 2 diabetes, and a variety of cancers. The dysfunction of gut microbiota was proved to result in obesity. Recent research indicated ANGPTL4 was a key regulator in lipid metabolism and a circulating medium for gut microbiota and fat deposition. The present study was conducted to investigate the alteration of gut microbiota and ANGPTL4 expression in the gastrointestinal tract of mice treated by the high-fat diet. Ten C57BL/6J mice were randomly allocated to two groups and fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) containing 60% fat or a normal-fat diet (Control) containing 10% fat. The segments of ileum and colon were collected for the determination of ANGPTL4 expression by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemical analysis while the ileal and colonic contents were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The results showed HFD significantly increased mice body weight, epididymal fat weight, perirenal fat weight, liver weight, and the lipid content in the liver (P < 0.05). The relative expression of ANGPTL4 and the ANGPTL4-positive cells in the ileum and colon of mice was significantly increased by HFD treatment. Furthermore, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the ileal and colonic microbiota suggested that HFD treatment changed the composition of the gut microbiota. The ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes and the abundance of Allobaculum was significantly higher in the HFD group than in the Control group while the abundance of Adlercreutzia, Bifidobacterium, Prevotellaceae UCG-001, and Ruminococcus was significantly decreased. Interestingly, the abundance of Allobaculum was positively correlated with the expression of ANGPTL4. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for the development of strategies to control the obesity and related diseases by the regulation of ANGPTL4 and gut microbiota.