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Food Science and Human Wellness 2022, 11(4): 1045-1052 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2022.03.031
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 28 April 2022

Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides protect against obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats fed a high-fat diet

Show Author's Information Li Zenga,  Fangwei Zhongb( ),  Zhiliang Chena,  Gengxi Lia,  Qi Zhua( )
School of Pharmacy, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang 422000, China
School of Laboratory Medicine, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang 422000, China

Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Keywords:
Obesity, High-fat diet, Lipid metabolism, Rat, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharide
Cite this article:
Zeng L, Zhong F, Chen Z, et al. Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides protect against obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats fed a high-fat diet. Food Science and Human Wellness, 2022, 11(4): 1045-1052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2022.03.031
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Abstract Full text About this article

Polygonatum sibiricum is a traditional medicinal and dietary plant of the family Liliaceae. The main functional macromolecules of P. sibiricum are polysaccharides, which function in antioxidation and regulating immunity. Previous studies have shown that insulin resistance (IR), oxidative stress, and inflammation are important factors in the induction of lipid metabolic diseases such as obesity. Therefore, in this study, we established a high-fat diet-induced rat model of obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to explore the potential protective effect of P. sibiricum polysaccharides (PSPs) and the mechanisms behind it. After 4 weeks of high-fat diet feeding to induce obesity, the rats were treated with different doses of PSP solution or distilled water for 6 weeks. Compared with untreated obese rats, PSP-treated obese rats showed a decrease in body weight, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, hepatic aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activity, hepatic malondialdehyde content, and hepatic levels of the pro-inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6, as well as increased serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and hepatic superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activity. Pathological analysis and immunoblotting of the liver tissues indicated that mechanistically, PSPs reduced obesity and NAFLD in rats by upregulating insulin receptor expression, increasing adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase phosphorylation, and downregulating sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 and low-density lipoprotein receptor expression, thus promoting lipid metabolism, decreasing body weight, and reducing inflammation and oxidative stress caused by lipid accumulation. Based on these results, PSPs may have the potential to reduce obesity and NAFLD associated with a high-fat diet.


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About this article

Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides protect against obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats fed a high-fat diet

Show Author's information Li Zenga, Fangwei Zhongb( ), Zhiliang Chena, Gengxi Lia, Qi Zhua( )
School of Pharmacy, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang 422000, China
School of Laboratory Medicine, Shaoyang University, Shaoyang 422000, China

Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Abstract

Polygonatum sibiricum is a traditional medicinal and dietary plant of the family Liliaceae. The main functional macromolecules of P. sibiricum are polysaccharides, which function in antioxidation and regulating immunity. Previous studies have shown that insulin resistance (IR), oxidative stress, and inflammation are important factors in the induction of lipid metabolic diseases such as obesity. Therefore, in this study, we established a high-fat diet-induced rat model of obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to explore the potential protective effect of P. sibiricum polysaccharides (PSPs) and the mechanisms behind it. After 4 weeks of high-fat diet feeding to induce obesity, the rats were treated with different doses of PSP solution or distilled water for 6 weeks. Compared with untreated obese rats, PSP-treated obese rats showed a decrease in body weight, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, hepatic aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activity, hepatic malondialdehyde content, and hepatic levels of the pro-inflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6, as well as increased serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and hepatic superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activity. Pathological analysis and immunoblotting of the liver tissues indicated that mechanistically, PSPs reduced obesity and NAFLD in rats by upregulating insulin receptor expression, increasing adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase phosphorylation, and downregulating sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 and low-density lipoprotein receptor expression, thus promoting lipid metabolism, decreasing body weight, and reducing inflammation and oxidative stress caused by lipid accumulation. Based on these results, PSPs may have the potential to reduce obesity and NAFLD associated with a high-fat diet.

Keywords: Obesity, High-fat diet, Lipid metabolism, Rat, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharide

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Publication history

Received: 29 December 2020
Revised: 12 January 2021
Accepted: 17 February 2021
Published: 28 April 2022
Issue date: July 2022

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© 2022 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (2019JJ40272); the Scientific Research Foundation of Hunan Provincial Education Department, China (20C1676); and the Scientific Research Foundation of Shaoyang College, China (2020HX122).

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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