Polysaccharides from Poria Cocos alleviate adenine-induced chronic renal injury via improving gut microbiota disorder.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a major challenge facing public healthcare. Growing evidence suggests that polysaccharides from traditional Chinese medicine positively affect CKD mainly through modulating gut microbiota. The study aimed to investigate the dynamic modulation of the polysaccharide from Poria Cocos (PCP) on CKD from the gut microbiota perspective. CKD rat model was induced by adenine, the rats were then supplemented with PCP (100 and 400 mg/kg BW) for 4 weeks. The results showed that PCP was a glucose-dominated pyran polysaccharide with a triple-helical structure and a molecular weight (Mw) of 3.50 × 105 Da. Furthermore, PCP administration relieved hyperuricemia and renal injury in CKD rats. PCP also reconstructed gut microbiota, improved intestinal barrier function, and elevated the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) contents. These results demonstrated that PCP positively affected CKD rats by modulating gut microbiota dynamically and had potential as a prebiotic.