Stachyose ameliorates obesity-related metabolic syndrome via improving intestinal barrier function and remodeling gut microbiota

In this study, oral supplementation of stachyose significantly improved HFD-induced MetS symptom, including overweight, hyperlipidemia, hepatic steatosis and system-wide inflammation. The subsequent analysis revealed that stachyose supplement significantly enhanced the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier and effectively reversed the gut microbiota dysbiosis, as evidenced by improvements in gut microbial gene richness, microbiota composition, and functional characteristics. The abundance of butyrate-producing strains, such as Bacteroides faecis, Butyomonas faecalis, Parabacteroides distasonis and Phocaeicola coprophilus is significantly increased, concurrently with the activation of the PPAR-γ signaling pathway. The findings of our study suggest that stachyose exhibits potential as a prebiotic agent for the prevention of gut microbiota dysbiosis and the intestinal epithelial barrier disruption in obese. The results of our study suggest that stachyose demonstrates potential as a prebiotic agent for mitigating gut microbiota dysbiosis and preserving the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier in individuals with MetS.