Restorative Effects of Inulin From Codonopsis pilosula on Intestinal Mucosal Immunity, Anti-Inflammatory Activity and Gut Microbiota of Immunosuppressed Mice
Yuanfeng Zou, Cen‐Yu Li, Yuping Fu, Xin Feng, Xi Peng, Bin Feng, Lixia Li, Renyong Jia, Chao Huang, Xu Song, Cheng Lv, Gang Ye, Ling Zhao, Yangping Li, Xinghong Zhao, Lizi Yin, Zhongqiong Yin
Abstract
An inulin (CPPF), isolated from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine Codonopsis pilosula , was characterized and demonstrated with potential prebiotic activity in vitro before. Based on its non-digested feature, the intestinal mucosa and microbiota modulatory effects in vivo on immunosuppressed mice were investigated after oral administration of 200, 100 and 50 mg/kg of CPPF for 7 days. It was demonstrated that the secretions of sIgA and mucin 2 (Muc2) in ileum were improved by CPPF, and the anti-inflammatory activities in different intestine parts were revealed. The intestine before colon could be the target active position of CPPF. As a potential prebiotic substance, a gut microbiota restorative effect was also presented by mainly modulating the relative abundance of Eubacteriales , including Oscillibacter , unidentified Ruminococcus and Lachnospiraceae after high-throughput pyrosequencing of V4 region of 16S rRNA analysis. All these results indicated that this main bioactive ingredient inulin from C. pilosula was a medicinal prebiotic with enhancing mucosal immune, anti-inflammatory and microbiota modulatory activities.