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Life sciences · Journal article
Journal of Nutrition and Food Security · August 16, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This preclinical rat study compared brown rice, meal replacement, and thiazolidinedione on gut microbiota composition and PPARγ expression under high-fat diet stress. Meal replacement achieved the most balanced Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio (attributed to highest fiber content, 5.74±0.22 g, P=0.018), while thiazolidinedione showed highest PPARγ expression (4.97±2.88, P=0.360). The findings are mechanistic and do not establish clinical efficacy in humans.
In vivo laboratory experiment with post-test only controlled group design. Sprague Dawley rats; negative control group given standard diet, four experimental groups subjected to high-fat high-fructose diet followed by targeted interventions. Intervention: Brown rice, meal replacement, or thiazolidinedione administered to diet-induced obese rat groups. Compared with: Negative control group (standard diet) and high-fat high-fructose diet groups without intervention.
Meal replacement group achieved balanced Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio compared to other intervention groups Meal replacement group had highest fiber content (5.74±0.22 g, P=0.018) among intervention groups Thiazolidinedione group showed highest PPARγ expression (4.97±2.88, P=0.360)
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This animal study provides mechanistic insight into how dietary fiber and pharmacological PPARγ activation may modulate the gut microbiota in obesity. However, findings cannot be directly translated to humans and require confirmation in controlled human trials before clinical application.
This is an uncontrolled animal study with a post-test only design, no blinding reported, and surrogate endpoints (microbiota ratio and gene expression) rather than clinical outcomes; it raises mechanistic questions but does not yet support clinical translation.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
This animal study provides mechanistic insight into how dietary fiber and pharmacological PPARγ activation may modulate the gut microbiota in obesity. However, findings cannot be directly translated to humans and require confirmation in controlled human trials before clinical application.
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Background: Obesity is a global health problem that continues to increase and is closely related to gut microbiota imbalance and metabolic dysfunction. This study aims to evaluate different interventions for treating obesity in a rat model using both non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches, including brown rice, meal replacement, and Thiazolidinedione. Methods: This study was an in vivo laboratory experiment on Sprague Dawley rats with a post-test only controlled group design. A negative control group was given a standard diet, and four experimental groups were subjected to a High-Fat High-Fructose (HFHF) diet during the initial phase. Subsequently, the experimental groups would receive interventions in the form of Brown Rice (BR), Thiazolidinedione (TZD), and Meal Replacement (MR) to assess their respective effects. Results: A balanced ratio (~1 or eubiosis) indicated that the number of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in the gut microbiota was relatively equal. This study presented that the MR group had a balanced Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio compared to other intervention groups. MR group had the highest fiber content among the other groups (5.74±0.22 g, P=0.018). The addition of MR to the diet increased the fiber content in the feed, leading to a decrease in Firmicutes and an increase in Bacteroidetes. The highest PPARγ expression was observed in the TZD group (4.97±2.88, P=0.360). Conclusions: The high fiber content contributed to the balance of the F/B ratio in the MR group, while in terms of PPARγ expression, the TZD group remains the most effective due to its direct activation of PPARγ
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