Improvement of Metabolic Syndrome in High-Fat Diet-Induced Mice by Yeast β‑Glucan Is Linked to Inhibited Proliferation of Lactobacillus and Lactococcus in Gut Microbiota

There is growing evidence that prevention of metabolic syndrome (MS) by dietary fibers is intricately linked to gut microbiota. In the present work, the mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) and orally treated with yeast β-glucan to further examine the effects of β-glucan on MS and gut microbiota and the potential relationship between gut microbiota and its activity. After intervention for 10 weeks, it was found that the treatment of yeast β-glucan could significantly improve the HFD-induced MS. Furthermore, pro-inflammatory cytokines in plasma including IL-6 and IL-1β were decreased. Yeast β-glucan could regulate the diversity and composition of HFD-induced gut microbiota. Moreover, the relative abundances of Lactobacillus and Lactococcus, having significant positive correlation with metabolic changes, were decreased by β-glucan, which might play a critical role in attenuation of MS. Our findings suggest that yeast β-glucan shows promising application as a prebiotic for preventing MS and regulating gut microbiota.