Introduction A millet grain diet reduces the absorption of cholesterol and fat, facilitates emptying of the stomach, and may improve gut health. Objective This study examined the effects of pearl millet and its ethanolic extract on the gut microbiota, intestinal structure, and serum metabolome in obese rats fed a high-fat diet. Methods This study examined the impacts of pearl millet grain (MPG) and its ethanolic extract (MPGethanolE) on gut health by investigating alterations in the gut microbiota and serum metabolome of obese rats fed a high-fat diet. Rats were divided into eight groups, based on the treatments they received: control, high-fat diet (HFD), HFD + MPGethanolE (25 mg/kg), HFD + MPGethanolE (50 mg/kg), HFD + MPGethanolE (100 mg/kg), HFD + MPG (10%), HFD + MPG (20%), and HFD + MPG (30%). Results The results showed that the fecal samples from MPG-treated groups exhibited a significant difference in pH, which varied from 6.5 to 4.5. Furthermore, higher dosages of MPG and MPGethanolE altered the composition of the gut flora, leading to significant increases ( p < .05) in the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila (19.01%, 18.45%, and 20.39% vs 0.00% in controls), while the lowest dose of millet ethanolic extract was found to increase the abundance of Lactobacillus spp. (31.71%, 32.89%, and 33.09% vs 20.39% in controls) . In contrast, the abundance of Bifidobacterium spp. remained unchanged under the interventional diets throughout the experimental period. Conclusion Both MPG and MPGethanolE diets were found to improve the intestinal architecture, including the villus shape, and considerable differences in metabolomics profiles were observed between the untreated and treated groups. Hence, these alterations may be mediated by putative prebiotic-like dietary impacts. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to establish the impacts of these grains and their extracts on gut metabolites, such as SCFAs, as well as host metabolism.
Alzahrani et al. (Wed,) studied this question.