Responses of the gut microbiota and metabolite profiles to sulfated polysaccharides from sea cucumber in humanized microbiota mice

Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Polysaccharides from Brassica rapa L. and Its Effects on Gut Microbiota in Humanized Mice

This study optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) for polysaccharide isolation from Brassica rapa L. using Box-Behnken design, achieving a maximum yield of 41.12% under conditions of 60 °C, 60 min, 175 W ultrasonic power, and 30 mL/g liquid-solid ratios. The crude polysaccharide (BRAP) was purified via DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-100 chromatography, yielding BRAP1-1 with the highest recovery rate. Structural analyses (FT-IR, HPGPC, SEM, SEC-MALLS-RI) identified BRAP1-1 as a β-glycosidic pyranose polysaccharide (32.55 kDa) composed of fucose, rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, and galacturonic acid (molar ratio 0.81:4.30:3.61:1.69:89.59). In a humanized mouse model via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), BRAP1-1 significantly increased α-diversity indices (ACE, Chao1; p < 0.05) and altered β-diversity, with PCA explaining 73% variance (PC1: 60.70%, PC2: 13.53%). BRAP1-1 elevated beneficial genera (Lysinibacillus, Solibacillus, Bacteroides, etc.) while suppressing pathogens (Treponema, Flavobacterium, etc.). Six genera, including [Eubacterium]_coprostanoligenes_group and Bacteroidales (p < 0.05), correlated with acetic/propionic acid production. These findings demonstrate BRAP1-1's potential to modulate gut microbiota composition and enhance intestinal homeostasis.

Plant polysaccharides and antioxidant benefits for exercise performance and gut health: from molecular pathways to clinic

In the last three decades, our understanding of how exercise induces oxidative stress has significantly advanced. Plant polysaccharides, such as dietary fibers and resistant starches, have been shown to enhance exercise performance by improving energy metabolism, reducing fatigue, increasing strength and stamina, mitigating oxidative stress post-exercise, facilitating muscle recovery, and aiding in detoxification. Moreover, antioxidants found in plant-based foods play a crucial role in protecting the body against oxidative stress induced by intense physical activity. By scavenging free radicals and reducing oxidative damage, antioxidants can improve exercise endurance, enhance recovery, and support immune function. Furthermore, the interaction between plant polysaccharides and antioxidants in the gut microbiota can lead to synergistic effects on overall health and performance. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current research on plant polysaccharides and antioxidants in relation to exercise performance and gut health.

Harnessing the Power of Probiotics: Boosting Immunity and Safeguarding against Various Diseases and Infections

The human microbiome, a diverse microorganism community, crucially defends against pathogens. Probiotics, postbiotics, and paraprobiotics alone and in combination are potent in countering fungal and waterborne infections, particularly against viral threats. This review focuses on the mechanisms of the microbiome against viral infections, emphasizing probiotic interventions. Certain Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) strains effectively eliminate toxic aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) from microfungi-produced mycotoxins. LAB binding to AFB1 persists post-gastric digestion, and pre-incubation with mycotoxins reduces probiotic adhesion to mucus. Oral probiotic administration in animals increases mycotoxin excretion, reducing associated health risks. Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus show exceptional efficacy in removing cyanobacterial toxin microcystin-LR from drinking water. Engineered probiotics promise advanced therapeutic applications for metabolic disorders, Alzheimer's, and type 1 diabetes, serving as diagnostic tools for detecting pathogens and inflammation markers. In antimicrobial peptide production, genetically modified probiotics producing human β-defensin 2 (HBD2) treat Crohn's disease with implemented biocontainment strategies preventing unintended environmental impacts.

Probiotics in Action: Enhancing Immunity and Combatting Diseases for Optimal Health

This review offers an in-depth examination of the mechanisms underlying the microbiome's defense against viral infections, with a specific focus on probiotic interventions. Mycotoxins, secondary compounds produced by microfungi, pose significant health risks. Yet, certain strains of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) have exhibited remarkable efficacy in eliminating aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), the most toxic member of the aflatoxin family. Experimental setups demonstrated AFB1 binding to specific LAB strains, persisting even after gastric digestion. Laboratory studies revealed a potential protective mechanism wherein pre-incubation of probiotics with mycotoxins reduced their adhesion to mucus. Animal trials further underscored the benefits of oral probiotic administration, showcasing increased fecal excretion of mycotoxins and mitigation of associated health risks. Cyanobacteria-generated microcystins in drinking water pose a significant threat to human health. Probiotic bacteria, particularly strains like Bifidobacterium longum and Lactobacillus rhamnosus, have demonstrated exceptional efficacy in removing the cyanobacterial peptide toxin microcystin-LR. Optimized conditions resulted in rapid toxin elimination, highlighting the potential of probiotics in water purification. Engineered probiotics represent a cutting-edge approach to tailor microorganisms for specific therapeutic applications, exhibiting promise in treating metabolic disorders, Alzheimer's disease, and type 1 diabetes. Additionally, they serve as innovative diagnostic tools, capable of detecting pathogens and inflammation markers within the body. In the realm of antimicrobial peptide production, probiotics offer a promising platform, with genetically modified strains engineered to produce human β-defensin 2 (HBD2) for treating Crohn's disease, showcasing their potential in targeted theurapetic delivery. Biocontainment strategies have been implemented to prevent unintended environmental impacts.

Updated Progress on Polysaccharides with Anti-Diabetic Effects through the Regulation of Gut Microbiota: Sources, Mechanisms, and Structure-Activity Relationships

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common chronic metabolic disease worldwide. The disturbance of the gut microbiota has a complex influence on the development of DM. Polysaccharides are one type of the most important natural components with anti-diabetic effects. Gut microbiota can participate in the fermentation of polysaccharides, and through this, polysaccharides regulate the gut microbiota and improve DM. This review begins by a summary of the sources, anti-diabetic effects and the gut microbiota regulation functions of natural polysaccharides. Then, the mechanisms of polysaccharides in regulating the gut microbiota to exert anti-diabetic effects and the structure-activity relationship are summarized. It is found that polysaccharides from plants, fungi, and marine organisms show great hypoglycemic activities and the gut microbiota regulation functions. The mechanisms mainly include repairing the gut burrier, reshaping gut microbiota composition, changing the metabolites, regulating anti-inflammatory activity and immune function, and regulating the signal pathways. Structural characteristics of polysaccharides, such as monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, and type of glycosidic linkage, show great influence on the anti-diabetic activity of polysaccharides. This review provides a reference for the exploration and development of the anti-diabetic effects of polysaccharides.

Chemical substances and their activities in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus: A review

Apostichopus japonicus, also known as Stichopus japonicus, with medicinal and food homologous figures, is a globally recognized precious ingredient with extremely high nutritional value. There is no relevant review available through literature search, so this article selects the research articles through the keywords "sea cucumber" and "Apostichopus japonicus (Stichopus japonicus)" in six professional databases, such as Wiley, PubMed, ScienceDirect, ACS, Springer, and Web of Science, from 2000 to the present, summarizing the extraction, isolation, and purification methods for the four major categories (polysaccharides, proteins and peptides, saponins, and other components) of the A. japonicus chemical substances and 10 effective biological activities of A. japonicus. Included are anticoagulation, anticancer/antitumor activities, hematopoiesis, regulation of gut microbiota, and immune regulatory activities that correspond to traditional efficacy. Literature support is provided for the development of medicines and functional foods and related aspects that play a leading role in future directions.

Metabolites of sea cucumber sulfated polysaccharides fermented by Parabacteroides distasonis and their effects on cross-feeding

Sea cucumber sulfated polysaccharide (SCSPsj) is one of the dietary components which effectively modulates gut microbiota; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, the interaction between SCSPsj and its utilizer (Parabacteroides distasonis) was investigated. Further study was carried out to explore the cross-feeding between intestinal Bacteroidales mediated by SCSPsj. The results revealed that SCSPsj can be fermented by P. distasonis to produce various microbial metabolites, including organic acids and derivatives, lipids and lipid-like molecules, organoheterocyclic compounds. SCSPsj can regulate the succinate pathway and acetyl-CoA pathway to influence the production of propanoic acid and acetic acid, respectively. Moreover, the SCSPsj-fermented supernatants of P. distasonis can only promote the growth of B. stercoris, B. vulgatus and P. johnsonii among 8 intestinal Bacteroidales strains through cross-feeding. The effect of cross-feeding was related to spatial distances and bacterial species. Moreover, the cross-feeding was correlated with compounds belonging to organic acids and derivatives, lipids and lipid-like molecules. These findings could provide new insights into the interaction between SCSPsj and gut microbiota.

The promotion mechanism of prebiotics for probiotics: A review

Prebiotics and probiotics play a positive role in promoting human nutrition and health. Prebiotics are compounds that cannot be digested by the host, but can be used and fermented by probiotics, so as to promote the reproduction and metabolism of intestinal probiotics for the health of body. It has been confirmed that probiotics have clinical or health care functions in preventing or controlling intestinal, respiratory, and urogenital infections, allergic reaction, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other aspects. However, there are few systematic summaries of these types, mechanisms of action and the promotion relationship between prebiotics and probiotic. Therefore, we summarized the various types of prebiotics and probiotics, their individual action mechanisms, and the mechanism of prebiotics promoting probiotics in the intestinal tract. It is hoped this review can provide new ideas for the application of prebiotics and probiotics in the future.