Dietary fiber intake and fecal short-chain fatty acid concentrations are associated with lower plasma lipopolysaccharide-binding protein and inflammation

Consuming adequate dietary fiber is a promising strategy for reducing systemic inflammation. The objective was to evaluate relationships between dietary fiber intake, markers of metabolic endotoxemia, and systemic inflammation in adults. This was a cross-sectional study of 129 healthy participants (age 33.6 ± 6.1 yr, BMI 30.5 ± 6.9 kg/m ). Dietary fiber intake was assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Adiposity was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Fecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) were quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fecal microbiota sequence data (V4 region, 16S rRNA gene) were analyzed using DADA2 and QIIME2. Inflammatory cytokines were assessed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays; flow cytometry was conducted for monocyte surface marker quantification. Bivariate correlations and generalized step-wise linear modeling were used for statistical analyses. Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin (IL)-6 concentrations were positively related to whole body (CRP = 0.45, =