Effects of β-glucan Rich Barley Flour on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in the Ileum, Liver, and Adipose Tissues of High-Fat Diet Induced-Obesity Model Male Mice Analyzed by DNA Microarray

We evaluated whether intake of β-glucan-rich barley flour affects expression levels of genes related to glucose and lipid metabolism in the ileum, liver, and adipose tissues of mice fed a high-fat diet. C57BL/6J male mice were fed a high-fat diet supplemented with high β-glucan barley, for 92 days. We measured the expression levels of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism in the ileum, liver, and adipose tissues using DNA microarray and q-PCR. The concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the cecum was analyzed by GC/MS. The metabolic syndrome indices were improved by barley flour intake. Microarray analysis showed that the expression of genes related to steroid synthesis was consistently decreased in the liver and adipose tissues. The expression of genes involved in glucose metabolism did not change in these organs. In liver, a negative correlation was showed between some SCFAs and the expression levels of mRNA related to lipid synthesis and degradation. Barley flour affects lipid metabolism at the gene expression levels in both liver and adipose tissues. We suggest that SCFAs are associated with changes in the expression levels of genes related to lipid metabolism in the liver and adipose tissues, which affect lipid accumulation High-fat model mice were fed barley or control diet (cellulose) for 92 days, and ileum, liver, and adipose tissue were collected after dissection. Total RNA in each organs were extracted by using protocol of RNeasy Mini kit. The resultant single-strand cDNA was fragmented and labeled with biotin. cDNA were hybridized to the GeneArray Mouse 2.0ST Array. The arrays were washed, stained and scanned using the Affymetrix 450 Fluidics Station and GeneChip Scanner 3000 7G according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. The arrays were washed, stained and scanned using the Affymetrix 450 Fluidics Station and GeneChip Scanner 3000 7G according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.