Grifola Frondosa Polysaccharides affects gut microbiota and lipid profiles depended on the molecular weight in mice

Figuring out the effect of Grifola frondosa Polysaccharide (GFP) on gut microbiota is increasingly recognized because of its widespread use in medicine area. In the present study, we investigated the potential influences of GFP with five molecular weight ranges on the gut microbiota, lipid content in serum and livers, and metabolic pathways in mice. GFP with each molecular weight range significantly changed the composition of the gut microbiota. Compared with the control (CK) group, GFP with five molecular weight ranges significantly changed Beta-diversity of the gut microbiota, especially EG3 (30-50k Dalton) group and the EG5 (⩾100k Dalton) group. GFP with five molecular weight ranges had no significant effect on the lipid profiles of the content of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (T-CHO), high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) in serum. The EG4 (50-100k Dalton) group obviously reduced the content of TG and T-CHO, slightly increased the content of HDL-C, and slightly changed the content of LDL-C in liver. The EG1 (⩽10k Dalton) group, the EG2 (10-30k Dalton) group, the EG3 group and the EG5 group made the KEGG pathways changed. These findings illustrated that GFP positively affected the microbial environment in the gut microbiota and offered the experimental evidence for preparation of multi-functional diet or medicine.