Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the severe form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and is characterized by liver inflammation and fat accumulation. Integration of C13-inulin metagenomes and metabolomes suggested that P.distasonis used inulin to produce pentadecanoic acid, an odd-chain fatty acid, which was confirmed in vitro and in germ-free mice. P. distasonis or pentadecanoic acid was protective against NASH in mice. Mechanistically, inulin, P. distasonis or pentadecanoic acid restored gut barrier function in NASH models, which reduced serum lipopolysaccharide and liver pro-inflammatory cytokine expression.

We conducted a meta-analysis of available literature to quantify the effects in humans of dietary inulin-type fructans on serum triacylglycerols. In conclusion, dietary inulin-type fructans significantly reduced serum triacylglycerols. The mechanisms, possibly related to colonic fermentation and/or incretin release from the distal gut, warrant further studies.

The objective was to determine whether the addition of a moderate dose of inulin to a moderately high-carbohydrate diet would decrease hepatic lipogenesis and plasma triacylglycerol concentrations and have a cholesterol-lowering action.