Regulatory Effects of Stachyose on Colonic and Hepatic Inflammation, Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis, and Peripheral CD4⁺ T Cell Distribution Abnormality in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice

Abstract

A long-term high-fat diet (HFD) can cause a range of health problems. Gut microbiota plays a decisive role in the development of HFD-associated inflammation, involved in function of T cells. This study was designed to probe the regulative effects of dietary stachyose, a functional oligosaccharide, on HFD-induced weight gain, inflammation, gut microbiota dysbiosis, and T cell abnormality in C57Bl/6 mice. Mice were divided into three groups which received normal chow, HFD and HFD plus stachyose (400 mg/kg), respectively. Results showed that administration of stachyose diminished the HFD-induced upregulation of serum TNF-α level and elevation of peripheral blood leukocyte populations to alleviate the HFD-caused colonic and hepatic inflammation in mice. Analysis of gut microbiota revealed that stachyose improved the intestinal homeostasis of HFD-fed mice by improving the bacterial diversity with the increases in the relative abundances of the Prevotellaceae_NK3B31_group, <i>Parasutterella</i>, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and <i>Anaerovorax</i>, as well as the fecal level of butanoic acid, while decreasing the ratio of <i>Firmicutes</i>-to-<i>Bacteroidetes</i> and the abundances of the Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, <i>Desulfovibrio</i>, <i>Anaerotruncus</i>, <i>Mucispirillum</i>, <i>Roseburia,</i> and <i>Odoribacter</i>. Flow cytometric analysis showed that stachyose antagonized the HFD-induced decrease of peripheral CD4⁺ T cell population in mice. Conclusively, these findings suggest that long-term consumption of stachyose can ameliorate the HFD-associated colonic and hepatic inflammation and its complications by modulating gut microbiota.