Consumption of Barley Bread Rich in Beta-Glucan During an Overfeeding Improves the Serum Lipid Profile and Balances the Intestinal Microbiota in Wistar Rats.

UNLABELLED: This paper aims to study the preventive effect of barley consumption on lipid disorders associated to obesity during a high-fat-diet. In this study, Eighteen (18) male Wistar rats (142.63 ± 5 g) were divided into 3 equal groups. Indeed, the first received a standard diet (C), the second received a high-fat-diet containing an Ordinary Bread (OB) and the third received the same high-fat-diet only the OB was replaced by Barley Bread (BB). The weight of rats was measured weekly, after 12 weeks of diet, the rats were sacrificed, the lipid and hepatic assays were performed. As results, the consumption of barley limited food intake, weight gain, and improved lipid imbalance. The comparison between the BB and OB groups shows that: In the BB group, a highly significant decrease in total lipids is observed (36.64%). Additionally, the consumption of BB decreases very significantly total cholesterol (36.39%) and significantly other serum lipid parameters: Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL-C, 59.44%), Very Low Density Lipoprotein (VLDL-C, 28.67%) and triglycerides (55.23%), and it improves liver function by reducing the levels of Aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT, 37.38%) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALAT, 37.77%). Therefore, replacing OB, which is used by the majority of people around the world, with healthy bread like BB rich in bioactive substances, such as Beta-Glucan, may participate in the improvement and balance of the lipid and hepatic profile, and also contributes to limiting weight gain by reducing food intake, thus preventing metabolic diseases.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-022-01052-7.