Inulin mitigates high fructose-induced gut dysbiosis and metabolic dysfunction in mice

An unhealthy diet is related to metabolic syndrome, and inulin has been studied to alleviate obesity and related metabolic disorders. We established a high-fructose mouse model to investigate the contribution of inulin through a comprehensive analysis of the gut microbiome and serum metabolome. The results demonstrated that inulin reduced the body weight and the levels of serum triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase relative to the model group. Multi-omics analysis showed that disorders in gut microbiota and serum metabolites were mitigated by inulin, including promoting the growth of Bifidobacterium and Muribaculaceae intestinale, reducing the Faecalibaculum rodentium, and upregulating the serum phosphatidylcholine. Moreover, inulin participated in phenylalanine metabolism and biosynthesis of tyrosine and tryptophan in serum. Our work revealed the prebiotic functions of inulin in microbe-diet interactions on host metabolism and provided insights into the gut microbiota and metabolites that may underlie the related metabolic diseases induced by high fructose.