Structural analysis and anti-alcoholic liver disease effects of a polysaccharide from Arundo donax L. rhizome

Alcoholic liver disease remains a critical worldwide public health challenge. Arundo donax L. rhizomes are a traditional Chinese medicinal material, however, the structural characteristics and hepatoprotective potential of polysaccharides derived from this medicinal resource remain largely unexplored to date.

Polysaccharide ADLP was extracted from Arundo donax L. rhizomes, and its hepatoprotective activity and molecular mechanisms were investigated in an alcoholic liver injury murine model.

Structural analysis indicated that ADLP (Mw = 22.689 kDa) possesses a linear →4)-α-d-Glcp-(1→ backbone, which is primarily decorated with a side chains of →1)-α-d-Glcp-(6→1)-α-d-Glcp-(6→1)-α-d-Glcp. Activity studies confirmed that ADLP not only improved the viability of ethanol-treated HepG2 cells, but also alleviated ethanol-induced hepatic lipid accumulation. Mechanistic analyses revealed that ADLP facilitates hepatic lipid metabolism by regulating the AMPK-PPARα signaling pathway. Meanwhile, ADLP exerts hepatoprotective effects through modulation of the gut-liver axis. Specifically, ADLP upregulates the expression of tight junction proteins ZO‑1 and Occludin, thereby mitigating alcohol-triggered intestinal barrier injury, restoring dysregulated gut microbiota, and elevating the levels of short-chain fatty acids.

This study systematically characterized the structural features of Arundo donax L. rhizome polysaccharide ADLP and verified its protective effects against alcohol-induced liver injury both in vitro and in vivo. ADLP exerts its hepatoprotective function via dual regulation of hepatic lipid metabolism and the gut-liver axis. This work fills the blank of structural and anti-alcoholic liver injury activity of polysaccharides derived from Arundo donax L. rhizomes, and provides a novel natural polysaccharide candidate for the intervention of alcoholic liver disease.