Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (¹H-NMR)-Based Metabolomic Analysis Effects of Arabinoxylan and Its Mixture with β-Glucan on Fecal Metabolites in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of arabinoxylan and its blend with β-glucan on fecal metabolites in mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity. Sixteen male ICR/KM mice were randomly divided into four groups: normal diet (CON), high-fat diet (HFD), high-fat diet supplemented with arabinoxylan (HFAX) and high-fat diet supplemented with arabinoxylan + β-glucan (HFAβ). The composition and content of fecal metabolites in each group of mice were investigated by ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics. The results showed that a total of 67 small molecule metabolites, including amino acids, peptides, organic acids, carbohydrates, nucleosides, nucleotides and their derivatives, were identified. Compared with the normal diet group, the HFD group had significantly higher levels of fecal cholate, xanthine and pyroglutamate (P < 0.05) and significantly lower levels of valine, acetoacetate, 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, 3,4-dihydroxybenzeneacetate, phenylacetate, glutamine, isoleucine and asparagine (P < 0.05). Compared with the HFD group, the concentrations of glutamine, acetate, 4-hydroxyphenylacetate, glucose, asparagine, isobutyrate and threonine increased significantly in the arabinoxylan supplement group (P < 0.05), while the concentrations of nicotinate, pyroglutamate and cholate decreased significantly (P < 0.05). In particular, compared with the HFAX group, the amount of pyroglutamate increased significantly (P < 0.05), while the levels of acetate, butyrate, glucose, glutamine, isobutyrate and propionate decreased significantly in the HFAβ group (P < 0.05). The metabolic pathway and enrichment analysis revealed that the major pathways included the synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, tyrosine metabolism, butanoate metabolism, and alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism. In conclusion, arabinoxylan and its mixture with β-glucan supplementation could improve fecal metabolomic profiles in mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity.