Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate from Isostichopus badionotus alleviates metabolic syndromes and gut microbiota dysbiosis induced by high-fat and high-fructose diet

Fucosylated chondroitin sulfate from Isostichopus badionotus (fCS-Ib) is a kind of sulfated polysaccharides with well-repeated structure. In our former publications, fCS-Ib has been reported to be a functional food ingredient with hypoglycemic and antilipemic activities. However, there is no systematic study to investigate the effects of fCS-Ib on metabolic syndromes. In the present study, C57BL/6 mice fed on a high-fat and high sucrose diet (HFSD) for 6 weeks was used to cause metabolic syndromes. The final results showed that fCS-Ib alleviated obesity, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, inflammation, liver steatosis, and adipocyte hypertrophy caused by HFSD. Meanwhile, fCS-Ib showed powerful effects on moderating gut microbiota dysbiosis in the HFSD-fed mice. Supplement of fCS-Ib could reduce ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes by decreasing abundance of Lachnospiraceae and Allobaculum while increasing abundance of Porphyromonadaceae, Barnesiella, and Bacteroides. Our results showed that fCS-Ib could be further developed as a potential pharmaceutical agent to prevent metabolic syndromes and gut microbiota dysbiosis.