Concentrated arabinoxylan in wheat bread has beneficial effects as rye breads on glucose and changes in gene expressions in insulin-sensitive tissues of Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats.

The health-promoting effects of dietary fiber may vary with content, structure, and composition in the diet. The aim was to study how low-fiber wheat bread (WB), wheat bread supplemented with wheat arabinoxylan (AX) or oat β-glucan (BG), whole meal rye bread (RM), and rye bread with kernels (RK) affected central parameters of glucose and lipid metabolism and gene changes of Zucker diabetic fatty rats. Blood glucose response areas after an oral glucose tolerance test were significantly lower after AX (mean ± SEM; 2117 ± 170 mmol/L·180 min), RM (1978 ± 206 mmol/L·180 min), and RK (2234 ± 262 mmol/L·180 min) breads than after WB (3586 ± 100 mmol/L·180 min; p < 0.0001). AX, RK, and RM changed expressions of adipose GAPDH, AMPK, FAS, SREBP-1c, and hepatic PCG-1α, whereas BG had similar effects as WB. Thus, arabinoxylan added to wheat bread had beneficial effects on glycemic control as whole grain rye bread in this animal model.