Composition-Activity Relationships of Polysaccharides from Saccharina japonica in Regulating Gut Microbiota in Short-Term High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice

Saccharina japonica polysaccharide could modulate gut microbiota composition; however, the composition-activity relationship remains unclear, thus restricting its application. In the current study, we investigated the impact of eight different S. japonica polysaccharide fractions on the gut microbiota after day 2 and day 14 treatments on high-fat diet (HFD) feeding mice. The results showed that a 2 day HFD dramatically altered gut microbiota composition, and the additional 12 day HFD further strengthened the gut microbiota dysbiosis in the HFD group. LjA-1 and LjA-3 could partially alleviate the dysbiosis of gut microbiota composition and significantly alter gut microbiota function. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the sulfate content and the molecular weight distributions were the main factors affecting the dominant gut bacterial genera. Our findings reveal that gut microbiota homeostasis could be disordered by HFD at day 2 and provide insights into the quantitative composition-activity relationships of polysaccharides in regulating gut microbiota.