Effects of high-fat diet on liver function and intestinal bacterial community in rats

Objective To investigate the influence of high-fat diet on liver function and intestinal bacterial community through building rat models. Methods 20 rats of 21 days old were divided into two groups randomly as normal diet group fed with standard chow diet and high-fat group fed with high-fat diet. After 6 weeks, feces of rats in both groups were obtained for 16S rRNA high-through sequencing of the intestinal bacterial community. Results After 6 weeks high-fat diet, total protein (TP)(55.79±3.75, P=0.002), globin (GLB)( 34.9±2.53, P<0.001), albumin (ALB)/GLB (.60±0.02, P<0.001), alkaline phosphatase (ALP)(373.80±63.05, P<0.001), total cholesterol (TC)(1.94±0.23, P<0.001), low density lipoprotein (LDL)(0.76±0.93, P<0.001), LDL/high density lipoprotein (HDL)(1.43±0.22, P<0.001), and triglyceride (TG)(1.48±0.50, P=0.015) increased compared with the normal diet group. Additionally, intestinal bacterial diversity and evenness decreased significantly. The dominant bacteria were Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria, with averaged relative abundances as 56.36%, 35.31%, and 6.61%, respectively. The relative abundances of Bacteroidetes deceased (P=0.007), those of Firmicutes increased (P=0.020), and those of Proteobacteria were kept stable (P=0.928) after a 6-week high-fat diet. Furthermore, the intestinal bacterial community structure changed distinctly between the two groups by 16s rRNA high-through sequencing. Conclusion High-fat diet can lead to change of intestinal bacterial community structure and further result in liver function damnification as well as obesity. Key words: High-through sequencing; 16S rRNA; Rat; Intestinal bacterial community; Liver function