Mussel polysaccharide α-D-glucan (MP-A) protects against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via maintaining the homeostasis of gut microbiota and regulating related gut-liver axis signaling pathways.

We isolated and characterized a Mussel polysaccharide, α-D-glucan (MP-A), from Mytilus coruscus earlier. In this work, the pharmacological activity and mechanisms of MP-A as an oral supplement for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were explored. High fat diet (HFD) was utilized to induce NAFLD in Sprague Dawley male rats and MP-A (0.6 g/kg) was supplemented for 4 weeks. The results showed that MP-A supplementation reduced blood lipid levels, intrahepatic lipid accumulation and NAFLD activity score in HFD-fed rats. Additionally, the analysis of 16S rDNA sequencing on gut microbiota samples revealed that HFD could induce microbial dysbiosis. However, MP-A supplementation could remodel gut microbiota structure, inhibit LPS-TLR4-NF-κB pathway activation, and restrain subsequent inflammation factors secretion. Furthermore, MP-A regulated the lipid metabolism by promoting the production of short chain fatty acids and suppressing PPAR γ and SREBP-1c expression. Our results support that MP-A can prevent against NAFLD and act as an oral supplementation for hepatoprotection via modulating gut microbiota and related gut-liver axis signaling pathways.