Broccoli consumption alters microbial diversity, host and bacterial gene expression in mice fed a Total Western Diet

Cruciferous vegetables and their derived compounds, such as glucosinolates, have demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties in animal models. In this study, broccoli-supplemented diet induced changes in the gut microbiome and its role in host and bacterial gene expression were examined in mice following consumption of the Total Western Diet (TWD), which is based on NHANES data and represents the composition of a typical American diet. C57BL/6 male mice were fed a TWD for six weeks followed by a supplementation of 0, 0.5, 1 or 2.5% broccoli powder for three weeks. Microbial communities from cecal contents were taxonomically profiled using 16S and metagenomics sequencing, and metatranscriptomics was used to assess functionality of bacterial species. Cecum tissues were also analyzed for host transcriptomics. Overall design: Three week old C57BL/6 mice were fed the Total Western Diet (TWD) for 6 weeks and then subgroups of mice were fed either the TWD or TWD supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 or 2.5% broccoli powder for an additional 3 weeks. Mice were then euthanized and cecal contents and various tissues were collected for analyses.