Spirulina platensisalleviates chronic inflammation with modulation of gut microbiota and intestinal permeability in rats fed a high-fat diet

Recent research suggested that taking a high-fat diet (HFD) may lead to a gut microbiota imbalance and colon tissue damage. This would lead to increased intestinal permeability and consequent constant circulation of low-grade inflammatory cytokines.Spirulina platensiscan protect against HFD-induced metabolic inflammation and can stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in in vitro stool cultures. However, it is unknown whether this beneficial effect acts on intestinal tissues. In this study, rats were fed a high-fat diet fed with 3%S platensisfor 14 weeks. We analysed endotoxin, the composition of the microbiota, inflammation and gut permeability. We found thatS platensisdecreased the bodyweight and visceral fat pads weight of the HFD-fed rats. In addition, it lowered the levels of lipopolysaccharide and pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum. Our results showed thatS platensiscould largely reduce the relative amount ofProteobacteriaand theFirmicutes/Bacteroidetesratio in faecal samples from HFD-fed rats.S platensissignificantly reduced intestinal inflammation, as shown by decreased expression of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), NF-kappa B (p65) and inflammatory cytokines.S platensisalso ameliorated the increased permeability and decreased expression of tight junction proteins in the intestinal mucosa, such as ZO-1, Occludin and Claudin-1. Therefore, in HFD-induced gut dysbiosis rats,S platensisbenefits health by inhibiting chronic inflammation and gut dysbiosis, and modulating gut permeability.