Microbiological and metabolic pathways analysing the mechanisms of alfalfa polysaccharide and sulfated alfalfa polysaccharide in alleviating obesity

Alfalfa polysaccharide (AP) and sulfated alfalfa polysaccharide (SAP) exhibit potential for alleviating obesity. This study aimed to analyze the mechanism of action of AP and SAP in alleviating obesity through combined microbiomics and metabolomics. The research selected validated optimal AP and SAP concentration for experiment. The results showed that AP and SAP down-regulated colonic inflammatory gene expression, regulated intestinal pH to normal, and restored intestinal growth. Microbial sequencing showed that AP and SAP altered the microbial composition ratio. AP increased the relative abundance of Muribaculaceae and Romboutsia. SAP increased the relative abundance of Dubosiella, Fecalibaculum and Desulfovibrionaceae. Metabolomic analysis showed that AP regulated steroid hormone biosynthesis, neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions and bile secretion pathways. SAP focuses more on pathways related to amino acid metabolism. Meanwhile, AP and SAP down-regulated the mRNA expression of colonic COX-2, PepT-1 and HK2 and up-regulated the mRNA expression of TPH1. Correlation analysis showed a strong correlation between metabolites and gut bacteria. Dubosiella, Faecalibaculum may be the critical marker flora for polysaccharides to alleviate obesity. This study indicates that AP and SAP alleviate obesity through different pathways and that specific polysaccharide modifications affect characteristic microbial and metabolic pathways, providing new insights into polysaccharide modifications.