Dietary Supplementation of Black Rice Anthocyanin Extract Regulates Cholesterol Metabolism and Improves Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis in C57BL/6J Mice Fed a High-Fat and Cholesterol Diet

Scope This study explores the beneficial effects of dietary supplementation of black rice anthocyanin extract (BRAE) on cholesterol metabolism and gut dysbiosis. Methods and results C57BL/6J mice are grouped into the normal chow diet group (NCD), the high-fat and the cholesterol diet group (HCD), and three treatment groups feeding HCD supplemented with various dosage of BRAE for 12 weeks. Results reveal that BRAE alleviates the increased body weight, serum triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (non-HDL-C), and increased fecal sterols excretion and caecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentration in HCD-induced hypercholesterolemic mice. Moreover, BRAE decreases hepatic TC content through the fundamental regulation of body energy balance gene, adenosine 5 '-monophosphate activated protein kinase alpha (AMPK alpha). Meanwhile, BRAE improves the genes expression involved in cholesterol uptake and efflux, and preserves CYP7A1, ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 5/8 mRNA expression, and the relative abundance of gut microbiota. Additionally, the antibiotic treatment experiment indicates that the beneficial effects of BRAE in reducing hypocholesterolemia risk largely depends on the gut microbiota homeostasis. Conclusion BRAE supplement could be a beneficial treatment option for preventing HCD-induced hypocholesterolemia and related metabolic syndromes.