Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multifactorial chronic metabolic disorder that affects approximately one billion people worldwide. Recent studies have evaluated whether targeting the gut microbiota can prevent MetS. This study aimed to assess the ability of dietary fiber to control MetS by modulating gut microbiota composition. Sodium alginate (SA) is a seaweed-derived dietary fiber that suppresses high-fat diet (HFD)-induced MetS via an effect on the gut microbiota. We observed that SA supplementation significantly decreased body weight gain, cholesterol levels, and fat weight, while improving glucose tolerance in HFD-fed mice. SA changed the gut microbiota composition and significantly increased the abundance of Bacteroides. Antibiotic treatment completely abolished the suppressive effects of SA on MetS. Mechanistically, SA decreased the number of colonic inflammatory monocytes, which promote MetS development, in a gut microbiota-dependent manner. The abundance of Bacteroides was negatively correlated with that of inflammatory monocytes and positively correlated with the levels of several gut metabolites. The present study revealed a novel food function of SA in preventing HFD-induced MetS through its action on gut microbiota.
Keywords: gut microbiota; inflammatory monocytes; metabolic syndrome.