Ganoderma polysaccharide and chitosan synergistically ameliorate lipid metabolic disorders and modulate gut microbiota composition in high fat diet‐fed golden hamsters

High-fat diet (HFD) and sucrose intake can lead to hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) as well as disturbed gastrointestinal microbiota and dysfunctional intestinal barrier. In the present study, we showed that Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide and chitosan (PC) significantly mitigated the hyperlipidemia in HFD-fed hamsters via lowering the contents of serum total triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Furthermore, PC changed the composition of gastrointestinal microbiota and elevated the relative abundances of beneficial bacteria, such as Prevotella, Oscillibacter, and SCFA-producers. Interestingly, we also found that the abundances of Prevotella, Alloprevotella, Bifidobacterium, and Alistipes were negatively associated with serum lipid profiles. Collectively, the above-mentioned findings indicated that PC could improve lipid metabolic disorders, at least in part, by modulating gastrointestinal microbiota, suggesting that PC could be used as a potential lipid-lowering ingredient in functional foods. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: PC could ameliorate lipid metabolism disorder, at least in part, by regulating specific gut microbiota, suggesting its potential as a novel lipid-lowering ingredient in functional foods. We believed that our findings could be of interest to the readers because they help others further understand the gut microbiota alterations that occurred after PC supplementation in the context of metabolic syndrome (MetS).