Tibetan highland barley fiber improves obesity and regulates gut microbiota in high-fat diet-fed mice

Tibetan highland barley fiber (T-Fiber) contains high dietary fiber (DF) and beta-glucose. Highland barley has been shown to reduce the risk of diseases associated with high-fat diets (HFD). In the present research, we studied whether T-Fiber could ameliorate HFD-induced obesity in mice and explored its regulatory effects on intestinal microbes. Our findings revealed that T-Fiber feeding significantly reduced weight gain and dyslipidemia, improved glucose tolerance and insulin resistance, alleviated chronic systemic inflammation, and increased short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in feces in mice. Histological observations confirmed that T-Fiber alleviated Epididymal fat (EF) and lipid accumulation in the liver. In addition, 16s rRNA sequencing analysis of mice cecum contents showed that T-Fiber restored the HFD-induced gut microbiota. T-Fiber supplementation increased the abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria Muribaculaceae, Akkermansiaceae, and Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_groups, while significantly reducing the abundance of Bacteroidaceae, Prevotellaceae, Rikenellaceae, and Alloprevotella. Furthermore, the increase in the production of SCFA may be related to the abundance of Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group. In conclusion, T-Fiber has some anti-obesity abilities under high-fat feeding and can be developed as a relevant anti-obesity product.