Vitamin D and diacylglycerol reduce fat deposit and change liver
lipid metabolism and caecal microflora in rats fed a high-fat diet
Running title: Vitamin D and diacylglycerol reduce fat deposit in rats
Yanan Liu1, Baowei Wang1.2*, Wenhua
Ge2, Mingai Zhang1, Min
Kong2., and Wenlei Fan1
1 Department of Food Science and Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural
University, Qingdao 266109, China.
2 National Waterfowl Industry Technical System Nutrition and Feed
Function Laboratory, Qingdao 266109, China.
Corresponding author:
Professor Bao-Wei Wang, College of
Food Science and Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, No. 700
Changcheng Road, Chengyang district, Qingdao 266109, China. E-mail:
Wangbw@qau.edu.cn. Phone: +8613789869968
Abstract: Vitamin D (VD) is associated with the release of
leptin, which promotes fat mobilization in the body. Diacylglycerol can
reduce triacylglycerol formation. This study evaluated the effects of
administration of VD and duck oil diacylglycerol on blood lipids, liver
lipid metabolism and gut microflora in rats fed a high-fat diet. A total
of 75 rats were allocated randomly to five treatments: non-obesity (NO),
obesity control (OC), diacylglycerol:10 mL per kg body weight (DG10),
VD:12.5 μg per kg body weight (VD12.5), and diacylglycerol + VD: 10 mL/d
+ 12.5 μg per kg body weight (DG10VD12.5). Rats in NO group was fed the
diet containing 7% soybean oil, while the other four groups were fed a
high-fat (3.3% soybean oil and 30.1% lard). VD and diacylglycerol were
orally dosed once per day. The administration of VD+diacylglycerol
significantly reduced the body weight gain and fat content. The change
of fat deposit was accompanied with the reduction in serum lipids, the
increase in the activity of enzymes involved in lipid metabolism in the
liver, the suppression of fatty acid synthase and the enhance of
carnitine fatty acyl transferase Ⅰ (CPT1) expression. The administration
of VD and diacylglycerol also significant modulated the bacterial
diversity profile in the cecum towards that in non-obesity rats. Those
results suggest that the administration of VD and diacylglycerol could
have significant roles in reducing fat deposit and altering gut
microflora in rats fed the high-fat diet.
Keywords : Diacylglycerol; Vitamin D; Lipid metabolism;
Intestinal microflora; Rats; Obese