Abstract
BackgroundObesity is a severe public health threat worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiota dysbiosis is closely associated with obesity and its related metabolic complications. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of polysaccharide extracted from WuGuChong (PEW) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, and the potential mechanisms involving modulation of the gut microbiota composition.MethodsMice were fed a normal chow diet and a high-fat diet with or without PEW (300 mg/kg/day) by oral gavage for 8 weeks. Body weight, obesity-related metabolic disorders, and gut microbiota were examined at the end of the experiment.ResultsPEW supplementation reduces body weight, adipose hypertrophy, liver steatosis, insulin resistance and systemic inflammation in HFD-fed mice, as well as maintains intestinal epithelium integrity. High-throughput 16S rRNA analysis demonstrates that PEW supplementation alters the composition of gut microbiota. The Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio and the relative abundance of Proteobacteria are increased in HFD-fed mice, which are reversed by PEW supplementation to approximately the control levels.ConclusionsOur results suggest that PEW may be used as a bioactive ingredient to prevent obesity and its related metabolic disorders by modulating the composition of gut microbiota.
Highlights
Obesity is a severe public health threat worldwide
polysaccharide extracted from WuGuChong (PEW) reduces body weight in high-fat diet (HFD)-treated mice To determine the influence of PEW on body weight in HFD-treated mice, eight-week old C57BL/6 male mice were divided into three groups: Normal chow diet (NCD) group, HFD group, HFD + PEW group
The HFD group exhibited increased body weight gain compared to the NCD group, which was reduced by PEW supplementation (Fig. 1a-b)
Summary
Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiota dysbiosis is closely associated with obesity and its related metabolic complications. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of polysaccharide extracted from WuGuChong (PEW) on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, and the potential mechanisms involving modulation of the gut microbiota composition. Accumulating evidence suggests that obesity, which is closely related to chronic systemic inflammation and insulin resistance, is a risk factor for cancers and some other chronic diseases such as diabetes, Increasing data indicates that gut microbiota composition is associated with obesity and its related metabolic disorders [7]. Germfree mice with gut microbiota transplanted from high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese donors exhibited significantly increased body weight gain and metabolic syndromes [11]. Modulating the composition of gut microbiota may be a potential new strategy for preventing obesity and its related metabolic disorders
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