BACKGROUND: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced from microbial fermentation of non-digestible carbohydrates and protein have been shown to modulate adipocyte adipokine secretion and metabolic function, which has implications for mitigating dysfunction in obese adipose tissue
however, the individual effects of different SCFAs and the optimal concentration required is unknown. The purpose of this study was to dose-dependently determine the effects of individual SCFAs on adipocyte adipokine secretion and metabolic function. METHODS: We recapitulated the obese adipocyte inflammatory conditions using mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes and a physiological concentration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ± individual SCFAs, namely acetate, propionate, and butyrate, in a dose-dependent manner (0.25 mM, 0.5 mM, and 1 mM) for 24 h. RESULTS: SCFAs dose-dependently affected inflammatory adipokine secretion, wherein at 1 mM, all three SCFAs reduced the secretion of leptin, IL-6 and IL-1β, but only propionate and butyrate reduced MCP-1/CCL2 and MIP-1α/CCL3 compared to control ( CONCLUSIONS: Individual SCFAs exert different dose-dependent effects on LPS-stimulated adipocyte function.