Preventive and controlling effects of <i>N</i> -acetylneuraminic acid in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism disorders <i>via</i> the gut-liver axis in high-fat diet mice
Wei Zhang, Linlin Zhou, Xinyuan Huang, Xinning Zhao, Hanying Zheng, Dongbei Guo, Xiaoxuan Chen, Lili Pan, Yahui Li, Hongwei Li
Abstract
-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) intervention groups (low, medium, and high doses), with 12 mice per group. The results showed that both intervention models effectively improved glucose tolerance, and reduced insulin levels, although no significant dose-response relationship was observed. Omics analysis revealed that the intervention increased the abundance of gut microbiota associated with energy metabolism and affected energy metabolism, immune response, and oxidative stress-related signaling pathways in the liver and colon. In the control experiment, inflammation marker levels correlated with improvements in the gut microbiota. Furthermore, the intervention significantly altered the abundance of microbiota linked to glycosylation signaling and metabolic regulation. These findings suggest that Neu5Ac intervention improves gut microbiota structure and function, stabilizes glycan structures, and reduces immune-inflammatory signaling in the gut and liver, thereby lowering systemic inflammation. This helps prevent and control glucose and lipid metabolism disorders induced by a high-fat diet. Notably, the intervention showed stronger effects after obesity had developed due to the high-fat diet.