TY - JOUR

T1 - Partial substitution of meat with insect (Alphitobius diaperinus) in a carnivore diet changes the gut microbiome and metabolome of healthy rats

AU - Lanng, Sofie Kaas

AU - Zhang, Yichang

AU - Christensen, Kristine Rothaus

AU - Hansen, Axel Kornerup

AU - Nielsen, Dennis Sandris

AU - Kot, Witold

AU - Bertram, Hanne Christine

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Insects are suggested as a sustainable protein source of high nutritional quality, but the effects of insect ingestion on processes in the gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiota (GM) remain to be established. We examined the effects of partial substitution of meat with insect protein (Alphitobius diaperinus) in a four-week dietary intervention in a healthy rat model (n = 30). GM composition was characterized using’ 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling while the metabolomes of stomach, small intestine, and colon content, feces and blood were investigated by1H-NMR spectroscopy. Metabolomics analyses revealed a larger escape of protein residues into the colon and a different microbial metabolization pattern of aromatic amino acids when partly substituting pork with insect. Both for rats fed a pork diet and rats fed a diet with partial replacement of pork with insect, the GM was dominated by Lactobacillus, Clostridium cluster XI and Akkermansia. However, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity metrics were different when insects were included in the diet. Introduction of insects in a common Western omnivore diet alters the gut microbiome diversity with consequences for endogenous metabolism. This finding highlights the importance of assessing gastrointestinal tract effects when evaluating new protein sources as meat replacements.

AB - Insects are suggested as a sustainable protein source of high nutritional quality, but the effects of insect ingestion on processes in the gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiota (GM) remain to be established. We examined the effects of partial substitution of meat with insect protein (Alphitobius diaperinus) in a four-week dietary intervention in a healthy rat model (n = 30). GM composition was characterized using’ 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling while the metabolomes of stomach, small intestine, and colon content, feces and blood were investigated by1H-NMR spectroscopy. Metabolomics analyses revealed a larger escape of protein residues into the colon and a different microbial metabolization pattern of aromatic amino acids when partly substituting pork with insect. Both for rats fed a pork diet and rats fed a diet with partial replacement of pork with insect, the GM was dominated by Lactobacillus, Clostridium cluster XI and Akkermansia. However, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity metrics were different when insects were included in the diet. Introduction of insects in a common Western omnivore diet alters the gut microbiome diversity with consequences for endogenous metabolism. This finding highlights the importance of assessing gastrointestinal tract effects when evaluating new protein sources as meat replacements.

KW - Alternative proteins

KW - Insect protein

KW - Microbiota

KW - NMR-based metabolomics

KW - Protein digestion

U2 - 10.3390/foods10081814

DO - 10.3390/foods10081814

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34441592

AN - SCOPUS:85112208076

VL - 10

JO - Foods

JF - Foods

SN - 2304-8158

IS - 8

M1 - 1814

ER -