Prebiotic activity of chitooligosaccharides and their ability to alleviate necrotizing enterocolitis in newborn rats

Xiaojing Wei; Leilei Yu; Chuan Zhang; Yongqing Ni; Jianxin Zhao; Hao Zhang; Wei Chen; Qixiao Zhai; Fengwei Tian

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120156

Prebiotic activity of chitooligosaccharides and their ability to alleviate necrotizing enterocolitis in newborn rats

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Jan 1:299:120156. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120156. Epub 2022 Oct 7.

Authors

Xiaojing Wei¹, Leilei Yu², Chuan Zhang¹, Yongqing Ni³, Jianxin Zhao⁴, Hao Zhang⁵, Wei Chen⁴, Qixiao Zhai¹, Fengwei Tian¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China. Electronic address: edyulei@126.com.
³ School of Food Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, PR China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China; Wuxi Translational Medicine Research Center and Jiangsu Translational Medicine Research Institute Wuxi Branch, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, PR China.

PMID: 36876780
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120156

Abstract

Chitooligosaccharides (COS) have many bioactive functions and favorable prospects in the fields of biomedicine and functional foods. In this study, COS was found to significantly improve the survival rate of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) model rats, alter the composition of the intestinal microbiota, inhibit the expression of inflammatory cytokines, and alleviate intestinal pathological injury. In addition, COS also increased the abundance of Akkermansia, Bacteroides, and Clostridium sensu stricto 1 in the intestines of normal rats (the normal rat model is more universal). The in vitro fermentation results found that COS was degraded by the human gut microbiota to promote the abundance of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and produced numerous short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). In vitro metabolomic analysis revealed that COS catabolism was associated with significant increases in 3-hydroxybutyrate acid and γ-aminobutyric acid. This study provides evidence for the potential of COS as a prebiotic in food products and to ameliorate NEC development in neonatal rats.

Keywords: Chitooligosaccharides (COS); Fermentation; Gut microbiota; Metabolome; Microbiome; Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

MeSH terms

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid
Akkermansia
Animals
Animals, Newborn
Chitin
Enterocolitis, Necrotizing*
Humans
Rats

Substances

oligochitosan
3-Hydroxybutyric Acid
Chitin