Stachyose combined with tea polyphenols mitigated metabolic disorders in high fructose diet-fed mice as studied by GC-MS metabolomics approach

High fructose (HF) ingestion is a common risk factor for the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which has become a serious health problem. The underlying mechanism of HF-induced NAFLD needs to be further understood and an effective prevention needs to be established urgently. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometer-based metabonomic method was employed to characterize the serum metabolic profile of HF-induced NAFLD in mice. β-Hydroxybutyric acid, elaidic acid and oleic acid that contributed to energy and lipid metabolism were confirmed as potential biomarkers for HF-induced NAFLD. With these changed metabolic pathways as possible drug targets, different administrations revealed that co-administration of stachyose and tea polyphenols was a more effective method than treatment of stachyose or tea polyphenols alone for preventing HF-induced negative changes of metabolic pathways in mice. These findings suggest that β-hydroxybutyric acid, elaidic acid and oleic acid are potential biomarkers in HF-induced NAFLD, and co-administration is a novel preventive strategy.