Abstract
Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs) have been proved to prevent obesity and modulate gut microbiota. However, the underlying mechanisms of LBPs’ regulating lipid metabolism remain entirely unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether LBPs are able to modulate the gut microbiota to prevent obesity. The results showed that oral administration of LBPs alleviated dyslipidemia by decreasing the serum levels of total triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and elevating the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in obese mice. Furthermore, LBP treatment decreased the number and size of adipocytes in epididymal adipose tissues and downregulated the expression of adipogenesis-related genes, including acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1, fatty acid synthase, stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1, sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ, and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis showed that LBPs increased the diversity of bacteria, reduced the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and improved the gut dysbiosis induced by a high-fat diet; for example, LBPs increased the production of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria Lacticigenium, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, and Butyricicoccus. LBPs treatment also increased the content of fecal short-chain fatty acids, including butyric acid. These findings illustrate that LBPs might be developed as a potential prebiotic to improve lipid metabolism and intestinal diseases.
Highlights
Obesity is an important risk factor for many chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, and so on (Shin and Yoon, 2018), and which has become one of the top health problems in the world
Obesity is strongly associated with lipid metabolism, hepatic manifestation, metabolic abnormalities, and the composition of the gut microbiota (Parry and Hodson, 2017; Li et al, 2019; FIGURE 4 | Effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs) on expression of lipid-related genes (ACC1, fatty acid synthase (FAS), peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor-γ (PPARγ), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1), SREBP-1c, and C/EBPα) in epididymal adipose tissues in highfat diet group (HFD)-fed mice. *P < 0.05 vs. normal chow diet group (NC) group and #P < 0.05 vs. HFD group
We found that HFD feeding increased the body weight, serum lipid profile, adipose tissue, and hepatic lipid accumulation in mice compared with the NC group for 10 weeks
Summary
Obesity is an important risk factor for many chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, and so on (Shin and Yoon, 2018), and which has become one of the top health problems in the world. It becomes a major challenge for modern societies to decrease the incidence of obesity and its associated diseases. A high-fat diet has been reported to reshape the gut microbiota, by increasing the proportion of Firmicutes in relation to Bacteroidetes, which plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of obesity-induced metabolic diseases (Hildebrandt et al, 2009). Some plant-derived natural bioactive compounds, including polysaccharides, were reported to be helpful to reduce weight gain, and fat accumulation via the modulation of the gut microbiota (Shang et al, 2017; Sun et al, 2018)
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