High-sugar diet intake, physical activity, and gut microbiota crosstalk: Implications for obesity in rats

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the effect of long-term high-sugar diet (HSD) intake and regular physical activity on gut microbiota as well as its health impact. Weaned male Wistar rats were fed with standard chow diet (SSD) or HSD ad libitum and subjected or not to regular swimming training with a workload (2% of body weight) for 15 weeks. Feces samples were used on microbiome analysis using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. HSD increased body mass, adipose cushions, and the serum levels of triglycerides and VLDL, also changed the bacteria taxons associated with metabolic disorders (increase taxons belonging to Proteobacteria phylum and decrease Pediococcus genus); the swim training reverted these changes. SSD intake increased the abundance of bacteria associated with metabolization of dietary fiber. Training in association with SSD consumption beneficially modulated the microbiota, increasing the Bacteroidetes, Bacteroidaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, Parabacteroides, and Lactobacillaceae, and decreasing the Firmicute/Bacteroidetes ratio; training was not able to maintain this profile in animals SHD-fed. Physical training modulates the gut microbiota reversing the obesogenic response caused by SHD. However, training itself is not efficient for up-regulating the probiotic bacteria in comparison to its association with a balanced diet.

Keywords: high‐sugar diet; microbiota; obesity; physical activity; swimming training.

FIGURE 1

Analysis of fecal microbiome samples of Wistar rats. (a) Rarefaction curves for 16S rDNA sequences. The x‐axis represents the number of sequences generated and the y‐axis represents the richness of species detected. Data generated by MG‐RAST. The correspondence between the curves and samples is shown at the bottom right of the legend. (b) Shannon diversity index. Data tested using a Two‐Way ANOVA Test with Bonferroni's post‐test correction. Data generated by 16S Base Space Illumina App. (c) Fecal microbiota composition among experimental groups at phylum level. Data generated by MG‐RAST. (d) Fecal microbiota composition among experimental groups at class level. Data generated by MG‐RAST. (e) The main bacterial groups identified at phylum and class levels among the experimental groups. The red node represents a phylum and class respectively, and the sizes of the nodes are proportional to the average relative taxonomic abundances. Data generated by MG‐RAST. N: 5 animals per group. SSD, sedentary standard chow diet; TSD, trained standard chow diet; SHD, sedentary high‐sugar diet; THD, trained high‐sugar diet

FIGURE 2

The relative abundance at phylum level of the fecal microbiome of Wistar rats fed by standard chow or high‐sugar diets and submitted or not to swim training. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Data tested using Two‐Way ANOVA Test with Bonferroni's post‐test correction. p < .005 was considered statistically significant. ^aDenotes significant difference in comparison to the SSD group. Analyses were performed in the 16S Base Space Illuimna App. N: 5 animals per group. SSD, sedentary standard chow diet; TSD, trained standard chow diet; SHD, sedentary high‐sugar diet; THD, trained high‐sugar diet

FIGURE 3

The relative abundance at class and order levels of the fecal microbiome of Wistar rats fed by standard chow or high‐sugar diets and submitted or not to swim training. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Data tested using Two‐Way ANOVA Test with Bonferroni's post‐test correction. p < .005 was considered statistically significant. ^aDenotes significant difference in comparison to the SSD group, ^bdenotes significant difference in comparison to the SHD group and ^cdenotes significant difference in comparison to the TSD group. Analyses were performed in the 16S Base Space Illumina App. N: 5 animals per group. SSD, sedentary standard chow diet; TSD, trained standard chow diet; SHD, sedentary high‐sugar diet; THD, trained high‐sugar diet

FIGURE 4

The relative abundance at family level in fecal microbiome of Wistar rats fed by standard chow or high‐sugar diets and submitted or not to swim training. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Data tested using Two‐Way ANOVA Test with Bonferroni's post‐test correction. p < .005 was considered statistically significant. ^aDenotes significant difference in comparison to the SSD group, ^bdenotes significant difference in comparison to the SHD group, and ^cdenotes significant difference in comparison to the TSD group. Analyses were performed in the 16S Base Space Illumina App. N: 5 animals per group. SSD, sedentary standard chow diet; TSD, trained standard chow diet; SHD, sedentary high‐sugar diet; THD, trained high‐sugar diet

FIGURE 5

The relative abundance at genus level in fecal microbiome of Wistar rats fed by standard chow or high‐sugar diets and submitted or not by swim training. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Data tested using Two‐Way ANOVA Test with Bonferroni's post‐test correction. p < .005 was considered statistically significant. ^aDenotes significant difference in comparison to the SSD group, ^bdenotes significant difference in comparison to the SHD group, and ^cdenotes significant difference in comparison to the TSD group. Analyses were performed in the 16S Base Space Illumina App. N: 5 animals per group. SSD, sedentary standard chow diet; TSD, trained standard chow diet; SHD, sedentary high‐sugar diet; THD, trained high‐sugar diet