Inulin-type fructans protect against high fat-sucrose diet-induced gestational diabetes mice in association with gut microbiota regulation

Inulin-type fructans (ITF) have been used as prebiotics to alleviate glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. However, few studies evaluate the microbial mechanism of ITF in improving maternal metabolic status during pregnancy. We use high fat-sucrose diet-induced gestational diabetes mice as a model to study the effect of inulin-type fructans on the cecal microbiota by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.This manuscript demonstrates that giving ITF to high fat-sucrose diet-induced gestational diabetes mice can alleviate glucose and lipid metabolism disorders, increase the abundance of Verrucomicrobia, Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia, and reduce the abundance of Dubosiella. These actions are likely to be mediated by gut microbiota. Our findings suggest a potential value of ITF as a healthcare supplement for the prevention and treatment of GDM patients. We believe this manuscript is valuable for all the researchers who are interested in ITF and GDM.