Modified apple polysaccharide regulates microbial dysbiosis to suppress high-fat diet-induced obesity in C57BL/6J mice

Purpose Obesity, substantially increasing the risk of diseases such as metabolic diseases, becomes a major health challenge. In this study, we, therefore, investigated the effect of modified apple polysaccharide (MAP) on obesity. Methods Twelve male C57BL/6J mice were given a 45% high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks to replicate an obesity model and six mice were given normal diet as control. Then, 1 g/kg MAP was administrated to six mice by gavage for 15 days. Illumina Miseq PE300 sequencing platform was used to analyze the microbial diversity of fecal samples. Flow cytometry was employed to investigate the effects of MAP on immune cells in adipose tissue. Bacterial culture and qPCR were used to assess the effects of MAP on the growth of whole fecal bacteria and representative microbiota in vitro. Results MAP could alleviate HFD-induced obesity and decrease body weight of mice effectively. The results of α diversity showed that Shannon index in HFD group was significantly lower than that in control group; Shannon index in MAP group was higher than that in HFD group. The results of β diversity showed that the microbiota of MAP group was more similar to that of control group. HFD increased the number of T cells and macrophages in adipocytes; while MAP decreased the number of T cells and macrophages. MAP could promote the growth of fecal bacteria, and demonstrated a facilitated effect on the proliferation of Bacteroidetes , Bacteroides , Lactobacillus , and an inhibitory effect on Fusobacterium . Conclusions MAP could reduce HFD-induced obesity of mice effectively. The possible mechanisms are that MAP restored HFD-induced intestinal microbiota disorder, downregulated the number of T cells and macrophages in adipose tissue.