Dietary Supplementation of Black Rice Anthocyanin Extract Regulates Cholesterol Metabolism and Improves Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in C57BL/6J Mice Fed a High-Fat and Cholesterol Diet.

This study explored the beneficial effects of dietary supplementation of black rice anthocyanin extract (BRAE) on cholesterol metabolism and gut dysbiosis.C57BL/6J mice were grouped into the normal chow diet group (NCD), the high-fat and cholesterol diet group (HCD), and three treatment groups feeding HCD supplemented with various dosage of BRAE (BAL, BAM, BAH) for 12 weeks. Results revealed that BRAE alleviated the increased body weight, serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) levels, and increased fecal sterols excretion and caecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentration in HCD-induced hypercholesterolemic mice. Moreover, BRAE decreased hepatic TC content through elevated hepatic AMPKα, LXRα, CYP7A1 and decreased FXR, SHP, HMGCOA-R mRNA levels. Meanwhile, BRAE depressed NPC1L1, ACAT2, MTTP, and preserved CYP7A1, ABCG5/8 mRNA expression, and the relative abundance of gut microbiota. Additionally, the antibiotic treatment experiment indicated that the beneficial effects of BRAE in reducing hypocholesterolemia risk largely depended on the gut microbiota homeostasis (e.g., Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus).BRAE supplement could be a beneficial treatment option for preventing HCD-induced hypocholesterolemia and related metabolic syndromes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.