Unraveling the characteristic structures of Cuscuta chinensis Lam. polysaccharides and its inhibitory effects on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Cuscuta chinensis Lam. is a well-known edible and medicinal plant in China, generally used in traditional medicine with meridian tropism into liver and kidney. In this work, two fractions (CCL-A and CCL-B) were isolated and purified from the polysaccharides of Cuscuta chinensis Lam. Physicochemical property analysis demonstrated that CCL-A possessed a triple-helix structure and was composed of galactose (Gal), glucose (Glc), and mannose (Man). Molecular weight and structural analysis revealed that CCL-A was a heterogeneous polysaccharide with a molecular weight of 354.53 kDa. Its backbone was identified as galactomannan since Galtα served as primary side chain linked to the main chain, consisting of mannose residues (→4,6)-Manp-(1→ and →4)-Manp-(1→), and glucose residues (→4)-Glcp-(1→). The effects of CCL were investigated in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) C57BL/6 mouse models. Intervention with CCL (150 mg/kg) significantly regulated NAFLD-related pathological indicators (serum TBIL, ALT, AST, ALB, TNF-α, and IL-6) and alleviated hepatic steatosis and fibrosis. In addition, CCL enhanced the abundance of probiotics and encouraged the synthesis of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These findings suggested that galactomannan from Cuscuta chinensis Lam. possessed potential applications as a prebiotic for attenuating NAFLD progression.