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. 2015 Nov 4;10(11):e0142176.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142176. eCollection 2015.

Interactive Effects of Indigestible Carbohydrates, Protein Type, and Protein Level on Biomarkers of Large Intestine Health in Rats

Marcin Taciak  1 , Marcin Barszcz  1 , Anna Tuśnio  1 , Barbara Pastuszewska  1
Affiliations

Interactive Effects of Indigestible Carbohydrates, Protein Type, and Protein Level on Biomarkers of Large Intestine Health in Rats

Marcin Taciak et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The effects of indigestible carbohydrates, protein type, and protein level on large intestine health were examined in rats. For 21 days, 12 groups of six 12-week-old male Wistar rats were fed diets with casein (CAS), or potato protein concentrate (PPC), providing 14% (lower protein level; LP), or 20% (higher protein level; HP) protein, and containing cellulose, resistant potato starch, or pectin. Fermentation end-products, pH, and β-glucuronidase levels in cecal digesta, and ammonia levels in colonic digesta were determined. Cecal digesta, tissue weights, cecal and colon morphology, and colonocyte DNA damage were also analyzed. Digesta pH was lower, whereas relative mass of cecal tissue and digesta were higher in rats fed pectin diets than in those fed cellulose. Cecal parameters were greater in rats fed PPC and HP diets than in those fed CAS and LP diets, respectively. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations were unaffected by protein or carbohydrate type. Total SCFA, acetic acid, and propionic acid concentrations were greater in rats fed LP diets than in those fed HP. Cecal pool of isobutyric and isovaleric acids was greater in rats fed PPC than in those fed CAS diets. PPC diets decreased phenol concentration and increased ammonia concentration in cecal and colonic digesta, respectively. Cecal crypt depth was greater in rats fed PPC and HP diets, and was unaffected by carbohydrates; whereas colonic crypt depth was greater in rats fed cellulose. Myenteron thickness in the cecum was unaffected by nutrition, but was greater in the colon of rats fed cellulose. Colonocyte DNA damage was greater in rats fed LP diets than in those fed HP diets, and was unaffected by carbohydrate or protein type. It was found that nutritional factors decreasing cecal digesta weight contribute to greater phenol production, increased DNA damage, and reduced ammonia concentration in the colon.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Ammonia concentration (μmol/g) in colonic digesta of rats.
Error bars represent standard error of the mean. Means with a different letters differ significantly (P < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

This study was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland, Grant No. N N311 046634. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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