Influence of salmon and pork diets on PUFA oxidation and intestinal health in rats

In this study, we investigated the effects of a diet rich in red meat (pork) and fatty fish (salmon) on gut and systemic health in rats. We hypothesized that differences in fatty acid composition (n-6 vs. n-3 PUFA) and heme iron content would influence the gut microbiota composition in the large intestine, thereby influencing intestinal health. Furthermore, we postulated that the n-3 PUFA in the fatty fish diet might mitigate intestinal dysbiosis. To test this hypothesis, we analysed the gut microbial composition in the colon, fecal and cecal metabolites (SCFA, protein fermentation (indole, cresol, phenol, ammonia) and sulfur metabolites (CS2, dimethyl sulfides and methanethiol), oxidative stress (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyl compounds (PCC), glutathione and glutathione peroxidase activity, and the specific aldehydes PROP, HEX and 4-HNE), histological changes, inflammation markers (C-reactive protein (CRP) in plasma and calprotectin in feces) and transcriptomics, in rats following the experimental diets for three weeks.