Hydroxysafflor yellow A regulates gut microbiota in hyperlipidemic mice
This study aims to investigate the regulatory effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) on the gut microbiota in mice with high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and the gut microbiota is a key regulator of lipid metabolism and inflammatory responses. Intestinal contents were collected from C57BL6/J mice fed a normal diet, mice fed a high-fat diet, and mice treated with HSYA. The primer target region is the 16S rRNA gene V4 region (primers 515F and 806R), which is used to characterize bacterial diversity. Diluted genomic DNA was used as the template, and PCR amplification of the target 16S rRNA gene region was performed using primers with specific barcodes. The amplification products were verified by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, and primer dimers and non-specific products were removed using magnetic bead purification reagents (e.g., AMPure XP). The concentration of the purified library was determined using a Qubit 4.0 fluorometer, and the fragment size distribution was checked by Agilent 2100 to ensure the main peak fell within the expected range (1.5-3 kb). Libraries meeting quality standards were subjected to single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing on the Revio sequencing platform to obtain high-quality long-read sequencing data. Sequencing data were analyzed to identify changes in the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota, and to explore the potential mechanisms by which HSYA improves host status, alleviates hepatic lipotoxicity, and restores the gut microbiota-intestinal barrier axis. This research will provide novel insights into the gut microbiota-mediated therapeutic effects of HSYA, and offer a theoretical reference for the development of microbiota-targeted interventions for hyperlipidemia and related metabolic disorders.