Screening and evaluation of prebiotic exopolysaccharide of Lactobacillus plantarum on treating IBD in mice

This research aimed at ascertaining the effects of prebiotic exopolysaccharide on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We studied the prebiotic activity of EPSs from 5 Lactobacillus plantarum strains using an in vitro gut microbiota model. The EPS with the strongest activity was fed to DSS-induced IBD mice. We then examined the mice's gut microbiota, serum cytokines, oxidative stress, and metabolic conditions. In the in vitro experiment, Only EPS32 of the 5 EPSs exhibited a good prebiotic activity similar to inulin. The EPS32 is composed of rhamnose, fructose, and galactose in a ratio of 8.2:1:1.7. When feeding mice with 50 mg/kgBW/day EPS32 for 10 days, it significantly alleviated the IBD symptoms including restoring gut microbiota dysbiosis, increasing short-chain fatty acid production, lowering pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, lowering oxidative stress in the lumen, and restore the metabolic conditions. Continuous intake of prebiotic EPS can effectively alleviate IBD symptoms.