Anti-obesity and gut microbiota modulation effects of chondroitin sulfate on obese mice induced by high-fat diet

Despite the extensive application of chondroitin sulfate (CS), a type of biological macromolecule, in various fields, including biomedicine, cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals, research into its potential anti-obesity properties remains limited. In this study, the impacts of CS on obese mice induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) were investigated. The results showed that supplementing CS effectively controlled body weight gain and fat accumulation (perirenal fat and epididymal fat) compared to the control group of obese mice. Furthermore, supplementation with CS reduced the levels of glucose and triglyceride in the serum. Analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing data illustrated that the diet supplemented with CS modified the composition of gut microbiota, particularly resulting in a reduction of Desulfobacterota and an increase in Bacteroides abundance. Correlation analysis suggested significant associations between specific gut microbiota taxa and obese phenotypes. Overall, these findings highlight that dietary intervention with CS may provide a promising strategy to mitigate obesity and its related symptoms, likely involving the role of gut microbiota in obese mice. This research offers compelling scientific evidence supporting the anti-obesity potential of CS as a dietary supplement.