1867-P: White and Brown Rice Supplementation Changes High-Fat Diet–Induced Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiome and Improves Energy and Glucose Metabolism

Increased white rice (WR) with parallel decreased brown rice (BR) consumption has been associated with increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). To test whether WR and BR have differential effects on energy and glucose metabolism, C57BL/6 mice were fed 6 different diets: control diet (CD, 10% Fat), high-fat diet (HFD, 46% Fat) with either no rice, WR or BR. BR and, surprisingly, WR activated PGC1α and UCP-1 expressions in brown adipose tissue (BAT) and increased energy expenditure as measured by oxygen consumption, CO2 release and heat production, resulting in reduced body weight (36%, 23%) and improvements of glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity while on HFD after 18 weeks. To investigate the underlying mechanism, gut microbial analysis was performed. Gut microbiota composition showed clear differences between HFD vs. CD or vs. the addition of BR or WR. Ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes was 3.7-fold increased in HFD vs.CD, but decreased by the WR (46%) or BR (59%). Increased alpha diversity was observed by WR and BR on HFD. Heat map binary showed that several genera are different in HFD+BR vs. HFD or HFD+WR vs. HFD. Analysis of family abundance revealed that Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae and Streptococcaceae are 2.5, 1.2 and 2.6-fold increased in HFD, which were reduced by WR or BR. Analysis of genus abundance showed that Lactococcus, Dorea, Peptococcus, Clostridium XIVb, Johnsonella, Anaerovorax are 2.6, 3.7, 2.9, 2.7, 4.7 and 1.7-fold respectively, increased in HFD, which were reduced by WR or BR on HFD. In addition, mice on BR+HFD showed greater reductions than mice on WR+HFD in family and genus levels.

Our results demonstrated that supplementation with BR or WR, to a lesser degree, changed HFD-induced gut microbial composition at family and genus levels, in parallel with improved systemic energy and glucose metabolism via activation of BAT and increased energy expenditure, resulting in reduced body weight and improved insulin sensitivity.