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Abstract
Purpose
This study examined the protective effects and mechanism of Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBP) in the context of intestinal barrier function and intestinal microbiota in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced chronic ulcerative colitis (UC).
Methods
C57BL/6J male mice were assigned to a standard normal diet without DSS (control group), a normal diet with DSS (DSS group, 2% DSS given discontinuously for 3 weeks) or a normal diet supplemented with LBP (1% dry feed weight, LBP group, 2% DSS given discontinuously for 3 weeks) for a total of 8 weeks, at which point colonic tissues and caecal contents were collected.
Results
LBP exerted a significant effect against colitis by increasing body weight, colon length, DAI and histopathological scores. LBP inhibited proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, iNOS and TNF-α) expression, improved anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) expression, promoted the expression of tight junction proteins (Occludin and ZO-1) via nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activation and decreased Claudin-2 expression to maintain the intestinal mucosal barrier. In addition, the abundances of some probiotics (Ruminococcaceae, Lactobacillus, Butyricicoccus, and Akkermansia) were decreased with DSS treatment but increased obviously with LBP treatment. And LBP reduced the abundance of conditional pathogens associated with UC (Mucispirillum and Sutterella). Furthermore, LBP improved the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid and isobutyric acid.
Conclusion
LBP can alleviate DSS-induced UC by regulating inflammatory cytokines and tight junction proteins. Moreover, LBP promotes probiotics, suppresses conditional pathogens and increases SCFAs production, showing a strong prebiotic effect.
Authors contributions
Z-YL performed the experiments and drafted the paper; L-HL, H-JL,Y-QL, F-QZ, T-YS and Z-YL performed the experiments and analyzed the data; J-YZ, FG, J-NX and Q-YH contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data. D-SZ and H-HZ contributed to conception and design of the study. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.
Ethics statement
Animal procedures in this work followed the Arrive guidelines. This project passed the experimental animal ethics review of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University (Permit Number 19-2022).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
We confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article. The original data of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.