A polysaccharide from salviae miltiorrhizae radix inhibits weight gain of mice with high‐fat diet via modulating intestinal bacteria

Obesity, a global chronic disease, has been recognized as a severe risk to health. In our study, a novel polysaccharide named ARS was isolated and purified from aerial part of salviae miltiorrhizae radix. Our aim is to investigate the weight-reducing effect of a polysaccharide from salviae miltiorrhizae radix on mice fed a high-fat diet.The novel polysaccharide ARS mainly consisted of glucose and galactose with a molar ratio of 0.59:1.00. We found that treatment with ARS could inhibit weight gain of mice fed a high-fat diet via modulating the intestinal bacteria. Moreover, we surveyed its mechanism in mice, and the gut microbiota sequencing results demonstrated that ARS can reverse or resist high-fat-diet-induced significant weight gain or obesity by increasing the diversity of gut microbiota and optimizing the ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes. Phylum and species analysis of gut microbiota demonstrated that obesity caused by a high-fat diet was accompanied by significant changes in the microbial communities, but ARS could reverse the disturbance of gut microbiota induced by the high-fat diet to maintain homeostasis.Overall, our findings suggested a new function of ARS in regulating gut microbiota, which provides a theoretical basis for the development of high-quality ARS functional foods and the application of dietary supplements. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.