Whole Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) Alleviates High-Fat Diet Induced-Obesity and Colonic Inflammation by Modulating the Gut Microbiota in Mice.

Obesity, a chronic low-grade inflammatory state, remains a major global health challenge. Recently, the gut microbiota and intestinal immune system have been identified as playing key roles in obesity, leading to their proposal as novel targets for preventing obesity and its related complications. The present study aimed to determine whether whole blackcurrant (BC) could improve colonic inflammation and obesity by regulating the gut microbiota. The 6-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups and fed either a normal diet, a high-fat diet (HFD), or an HFD containing 6% whole BC for 16 weeks. As a result, whole BC showed beneficial effects on body weight, abdominal fat volume, and lipid profiles in the liver and serum. Whole BC ameliorated mucosal barrier damage induced by an HFD, thereby reducing LPS translocation into the bloodstream. Furthermore, it decreased intestinal and systemic inflammation by attenuating the excessive secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines through the suppression of NF-κB signaling pathway overactivation in the colon. Whole BC reversed gut microbiota dysbiosis caused by an HFD. Therefore, the whole BC provides benefits against obesity by improving the mucosal barrier and colonic inflammation through the regulation of the gut microbiota altered by an HFD, thereby alleviating systemic inflammation.