Administration of freeze-dried
powder of Saskatoon berry (SB), a popular fruit enriched with
antioxidants, reduced
glucose level, inflammatory markers and gut microbiota disorder in high fat-high
sucrose (HFHS) diet-induced
insulin resistant mice. The present study examined the dose-response relationship in metabolic, inflammatory and gut microbiotic variables to SB power (SBp) supplementation in HFHS diet-fed mice. Male C57 BL/6J mice were fed with HFHS diet supplemented with 0, 1%, 2.5% or 5% SBp for 11 weeks. HFHS diet significantly increased the levels of fast plasma
glucose (FPG),
cholesterol,
triglycerides,
insulin, homeostatic model assessment of
insulin resistance (HOMA-IR),
tumor necrosis factor-α,
monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and
plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, but decreased fecal Bacteroidetes phylum bacteria and Muribaculaceae family bacteria compared to
low fat diet. SBp dose-dependently reduced metabolic and inflammatory variables and gut
dysbiosis in mice compared with mice receiving HFHS diet alone. Significant attenuation of HFHS diet-induced biochemical disorders were detected in mice receiving ≥1% SBp. The abundances of Muribaculaceae family bacteria negatively correlated with
body weights, FPG,
lipids,
insulin, HOMA-IR and inflammatory markers in the mice. The results suggest that SBp supplementation dose-dependently attenuated HFHS diet-induced metabolic and inflammatory disorders, which was associated with the amelioration of gut
dysbiosis in the mice.