Serum metabolomics combined with gut microbiota reveals the effects of Polygala tenuifolia polysaccharide on the metabolic and microbial profiles in SAMP8 mouse.

Polygala tenuifolia is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine. Polygala tenuifolia polysaccharide (PTP), as one of its main active ingredients, has excellent neuroprotective activity. PTP improved the disruption of the endogenous metabolites and gut microbiota caused by Alzheimer's disease (AD). Specifically, untargeted metabolomics results showed that 19 metabolites such as leukotriene B4, vanylglycol, and cer(d18:1/18:0) are significantly reduced, and 2 metabolites are elevated. It was significantly enriched in Sphingolipid metabolism, Glycerophospholipid metabolism, Tyrosine metabolism, and Arachidonic acid metabolism. Meanwhile, 16S rDNA analysis showed that PTP treatment significantly increased the relative abundance of bacteria such as Alistipes, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, and Lachnospiraceae_UCG-006. In addition, Spearman analysis showed that significant changes in gut microbiota were closely related to differential endogenous metabolites.