In Vivo Evaluation of Butyrate, a Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Effect on Lipid Profile of Apo E −/− Mice Fed on Atherogenic Diet

A large body of evidence indicates diets high in fiber are correlated with lower incidences of adverse cardiovascular events including atherosclerotic vascular disease by cholesterol lowering effects. Although, butyrate, a natural product of dietary fiber fermentation produced in the colon appears to have a role in the cardio protective effects of fiber, its influence on hyperlipidemic conditions is not clear. In the present study, ApoE −/− knockout atherogenic mouse model fed on non‐atherogenic or atherogenic diets were treated with or without butyrate (50mg/kg, ip, six days/week; N=8 animals/group) for 18 weeks to determine the effect of butyrate on atherogenic diet related hyperlipidemic state. All animals were handled and treated by strictly following the Institutional guidelines approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, there were no mortalities and animals were not under any stress. At the end of treatment, blood samples were collected for lipid analysis. The results indicate that chronic butyrate treatment causes no significant changes in overall lipid profiles both in groups fed on non‐atherogenic and atherogenic diet compared to their respective no butyrate treatment controls. However, butyrate treatment significantly reduced body weights of animals that were fed on atherogenic diet compared to the weights of animals fed on non‐atherogenic diet. The results appears to show that butyrate exerts a potential protective role in modulating vascular health by promoting lower body weight even with no change in atherogenic diet induced hyperlipidemic state. It is possible other mechanism(s) may be playing a role in butyrate‐induced lower body weights of animals fed with atherogenic diet. Support or Funding Information This study was made possible, in part, by research infrastructure support from grant number 2G12MD007605 from the NIMHD/NIH