Ultrasonic assisted extraction, characterization and gut microbiota-dependent anti-obesity effect of polysaccharide from Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae 'Chachiensis'

Abstract

Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae 'Chachiensis' (PCRC), the premium aged pericarps of Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae, is widely used in traditional Chinese medicines with a diversity of promising bioactivity. Herein we report the extraction, characterization and underlying mechanism of anti-metabolic syndrome of an arabinan-rich polysaccharide from PCRC (PCRCP). This polysaccharide was obtained in a 7.0% yield by using ultrasound-assisted extraction under the optimized conditions of 30 mL/g liquid-to-solid ratio, 250 W ultrasound power for 20 min at 90 °C with pH 4.5. The PCRCP with an average molecular weight of 122.0 kDa, is mainly composed of D-galacturonic acid, arabinose and galactose, which may link via 1,4-linked Gal(p)-UA, 1,4-linked Ara(f) and 1,4-linked Gal(p). Supplementation with PCRCP not only effectively alleviated the weight gain, adiposity and hyperglycemia, but also regulated the key metabolic pathways involved in the de novo synthesis and β-oxidation of fatty acid in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. Furthermore, PCRCP treatment caused a significant normalization in the intestinal barrier and composition of gut microbiota in mice fed by HFD. Notably, PCRCP selectively enriched Lactobacillus johnsonii at the family-genus-species levels, a known commensal bacterium, the level of which was decreased in mice fed by HFD. The depletion of microbiome induced by antibiotics, significantly compromised the effects of anti-metabolic syndrome of PCRCP in mice fed by HFD, demonstrating that the protective phenotype of PCRCP against anti-obesity is dependent on gut microbiota. PCRCP is exploitable as a potential prebiotic for the intervention of obesity and its complications.