Arabinoxylan from Prunella vulgaris L. by room temperature extraction and the hepatoprotective effect through gut-liver axis.

Recently, low-temperature water isolation has been confirmed to better keep the original structure of polysaccharides in plant. Thus, in this work, we obtained a new polysaccharide (WPVP) by water extraction at room-temperature (RT) from Prunella vulgaris L., a famous traditional edible Chinese medicinal herb. Unlike most reported complex heteropolysaccharides from Prunella vulgaris L. by hot water, the polysaccharide we obtained at RT was identified as an arabinoxylan, which is comprised a β-1,4-d-xylopyranose (Xylp) backbone substituted at O-2 with linear α-1,5-l-arabinofuranose (Araƒ) side chains. Notably, this new WPVP significantly ameliorated alcohol-induced hepatic damage in mice through gut regulation, as indicated by the improvement on hepatic lipid accumulation, inflammation, and intestinal microecology. Collectively, this work suggests a new strategy for polysaccharides isolation to maintain the original structure, and also proposes a novel therapeutic strategy for alcoholic liver disease (ALD).