Fructooligosaccharide intake alters the phospholipid and fatty acid composition of liver plasma membranes

Prebiotic intake is generally associated with alterations in the gastrointestinal microflora and blood serum lipids. However, less attention has been paid to the effect of prebiotics on the liver membrane lipids. We hypothesized that the reported alterations in the serum lipids might be related to changes in the liver membrane phospholipids in animals fed fructooligosaccharide (FOS)-enriched diet. To test this hypothesis, we studied the composition and structural organization of liver plasma membrane lipids isolated from rats fed FOS-enriched diet. The results demonstrated that sphingomyelin (SM) was augmented significantly in membranes from FOS-fed rats. Sphingomyelinase activity was lower in the membranes from the FOS-fed group which could underlie the observed increase in the content of SM. Also, the percentage of susceptible to oxidation cholesterol was lower in plasma membranes from FOS-fed rats. Concomitantly, the saturated/unsaturated fatty acids ratio and the structural order parameter (SDPH) were lowered in the membranes of prebiotic-fed rats. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that the uptake of prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharides could influence the content of specific lipids and the fluidity of liver plasma membranes of experimental animals. These results suggest a possible lipid-related trail linked to the beneficial effect of prebiotics on the host organism.