Long-term consumption of resistant starch induced changes in gut microbiota, metabolites, and energy homeostasis in a high-fat diet

Considering that the study on the impact of the long-term consumption of resistant starch on metabolic syndromes induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) is rare, this investigation designed a 36-week consumption of HFD containing three RS levels (LRS, MRS, and HRS) for measuring changes in serum parameters, liver transcriptome, and gut microbiota. Results indicated that all levels of RS in HFD significantly reduced food intakes and body gain, followed by increased leptin and PYY, but did not show dose-dependence. Furthermore, MRS triggered a greater number of enriched pathways than the other RS groups, whereas no enriched pathway was noted in the HRS group. The Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio can still predict changes in body weight for long-term observation, and isobutyrate was found to be positively related to Blautia. Importantly, a shifted ratio of Ruminococcaceae/Lactobacillaceae quickly occurred in the early stage of 12 weeks for all groups, but the ratio remained constant in HRS rather than in LRS and MRS, which might indicate both similarity and difference in the regulation of the metabolic syndromes among the three RS interventions.