Wild Melon Seed Oil Reduces Plasma Cholesterol and Modulates Gut Microbiota in Hypercholesterolemic Hamsters

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.9b07302
• Publication Date: 2020-01-27T10:42:50Z
• Authors: Wangjun Hao; Hanyue Zhu; Jingnan Chen; Erika Kwek; Zouyan He; Jianhui Liu; Ning Ma; Ka Ying Ma; Zhen-Yu Chen
• Keywords: Male; 0301 basic medicine; 2. Zero hunger; Bacteria; Mesocricetus; Hypercholesterolemia; Fatty Acids, Volatile; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Feces; 03 medical and health sciences; Cholesterol; Cucumis melo; Seeds; Animals; Humans; Plant Oils; Female

Wild melon (Cucumis melo var. agrestis) seed oil (CO) contains 71.3% polyunsaturated fatty acids. The present study investigated the effects of CO on blood cholesterol and gut microbiota. Hamsters (n = 32) were randomly divided into four groups and given one of four diets, namely noncholesterol diet (NCD), high-cholesterol diet containing 0.1% cholesterol (HCD), HCD containing 4.75% CO (COL), and HCD containing 9.5% CO (COH) for 6 weeks. CO supplementation at 9.5% in the diet reduced plasma cholesterol by 24% and enhanced the excretion of fecal bile acids by 150%. CO supplementation upregulated the gene expression of hepatic cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1). In addition, supplementation of CO in the diet remarkably increased the production of fecal short-chain fatty acids and favorably altered the relative abundances of Eubacteriaceae, Clostridiales_vadinBB60_group, Ruminococcaceae, Streptococcaceae, and Desulfovibrionaceae at a family level. It was concluded that CO could reduce plasma cholesterol via promoting the excretion of fecal acidic sterols and modulating gut microbiota.