Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch polysaccharide mediates lipid metabolism and metabolic endotoxaemia in associated with the modulation of gut microbiota in diet-induced obese mice

Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch polysaccharide (ASKP) has been proved to have many bioactivities. To determine the underlying mechanisms on anti-obesogenic effect of ASKP in mice, parameters related to obesity, gut microbiota composition, and the correlation between the parameters and specific bacterial taxa were investigated. The results showed that ASKP significantly alleviated high-fat-diet-induced obesity in mice with the amelioration of dyslipidemia, and metabolic endotoxaemia. Relative expression analyses of genes indicated that ASKP administration modulated hepatic lipid metabolism with the downregulation of related genes, including ACC-1, FAS, SREBP-1c, and PPARγ. 16S rRNA analysis showed that ASKP mediated the gut dysbiosis induced by high-fat diet, such as the reduction of Proteobacteria, AF12, and Helicobacter. Spearman's correlation showed that some specific genera, such as Odoribacter, AF12, and Rikenella, were strongly associated with obesity-related parameters. Our results demonstrated that ASKP could serve as a potential prebiotic agent in the prevention of diet-induced obesity.