O-21 NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION WITH MEXICAN FOODS, OPUNTIA FICUS INDICA, THEOBROMA CACAO, AND ACHETA DOMESTICUS IMPROVED GUT-LIVER AXIS IN A MAFLD MICE MODEL.

Introduction and Objectives

Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is the most common liver disease worldwide, several studies have shown that gut microbiota had a strong impact in MAFLD developing. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a supplementation with a mixture of Mexican foods (MexMix): nopal, cacao and cricket on gut-liver axis.

Materials and Methods

Thirty C57BL/6J male mice were divided into three groups: 1) control group: normal diet. 2) HF group: high fat diet (60%) and water with sucrose and fructose and 3) MexMix group (MexMix): HF diet until week 10 and for 8 additional weeks; HF diet pellets supplemented with 6.7% nopal, 8.7% cocoa and 8.7% cricket.

Results

Mice treated with MexMix decreased body weight, visceral and epididymal fat, and adipocyte size, as well as serum levels of triglycerides, insulin, leptin, and PAI-1; while adiponectin levels increased. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, MexMix was shown to increase phylogenetic diversity, Firmicutes abundance, and enrichment of 10 genera, including Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, Akkermansia, and Eubacterium_coprostanoligenes_group, associated with multiple beneficial effects such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production. In the gut, MexMix supplementation increased significantly fecal SCFAs concentration, intestinal crypts depth, Ocln and Cldn1 expression, and decreased Il6 and Tnf-a expression. In liver, MexMix significantly reduced steatosis. Liver transcriptome in MexMix group showed an enrichment in histone H3K14 acetylation pathway. Using qPCR, we confirmed higher hepatic expression of Cat, Sod and lower expression of Tnfa and Pparg. In addition, MexMix diet decreased hepatic expression of miRNA-34a, miRNA-103, and miRNA-33a.

Conclusions

Supplementation with MexMix demonstrated its efficacy as a prebiotic, promoting growth of beneficial genera improving intestinal health. This suggests that MexMix could be a potential therapeutic strategy for treating MAFLD in patients, as well as other conditions linked to excessive consumption of fats and sugars.