Menstrual Characteristics and Iron Status in Northern European and East Asian Individuals

from fat), or 4) HFD + 5% FOS (HFD-FOS) for 10 weeks.Serum and colonic mucosa were collected for analyses of VD signaling and pro-inflammatory cytokines.Results: Body weight of HFD mice was 1.6-fold greater than in CON mice after 10-week of intervention (P < 0.001), yet FOS did not alter body weight in mice fed either diet.HFD mice exhibited lower VD status (P 0.037), as measured by serum 25hydroxycholecalciferol (25D), and 70% lower in colonic Vdr mRNA expression (P 0.038) compared to CON mice.Though FOS did not affect serum 25D levels in either CON or HFD mice, mRNA expression of colonic Vdr was upregulated by 2-fold in mice of HFD-FOS compared to HFD (P < 0.01).A lowering trend was observed with mRNA expression of colonic Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4) in HFD-FOS mice compared to HFD mice (P 0.068), which was negatively correlated to colonic Vdr expression (r -0.747; P < 0.01).Additionally, FOS suppressed the elevation of circulating IL-6 by 44% in HFD mice (P 0.038), and that it did not differ from CON mice.Conclusions: We showed that FOS suppressed VDR activation in the colon and attenuated colonic inflammation in HFDinduced obese mice possibly via the inhibition of TLR4 signaling pathway.Taken together, FOS may serve as a potential dietary intervention for the prevention of gastrointestinal complications associated with obesity phenotype.