Fang Li,1,* Hui Huang,2,* Fulejia Zhu,1 Xianrong Zhou,1 Zhennai Yang,3 Xin Zhao1 1Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Functional Food, Chongqing Engineering Laboratory for Research and Development of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing, 400067, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pain Medicine, The Ninth People’s Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing, 400700, People’s Republic of China; 3Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Beijing Technology & Business University (BTBU), Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Xin Zhao; Zhennai Yang Tel +86-23-6265-3650Email zhaoxin@cque.edu.cn; yangzhennai@th.btbu.edu.cnObjective: Colitis is one of the main gastrointestinal diseases threatening human health.Materials and Methods: In this study, a synbiotic composed of arabinoxylan (AX) and Lactobacillus fermentum HFY06 was tested to determine its ability to relieve dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis.Results: The experimental results showed that the synergistic effect of AX and L. fermentum HFY06 alleviated the weight loss of DSS-mediated colitis mice and lowered the disease activity index (DAI) score. Determination of biochemical indicators found that the synbiotic composed of AX and L. fermentum HFY06 increased the body’s antioxidant capacity and reduced inflammation. The histopathological examination results showed that the colonic crypts of the mice in the model group were disordered, goblet cells were lost, and the mucous membrane was severely damaged. However, the combination of AX and L. fermentum HFY06 can significantly reverse the histopathological changes in the colon mediated by DSS. The gene expression of colon tissue was further determined, and the results showed that the synergistic effect of AX and L. fermentum HFY06 inhibited the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway, downregulated the mRNA expression levels of nuclear factor-κB-p65 (NF-κBp65), upregulated the mRNA expression of NF-κB inhibitor-α (IκB-α), inhibited the release of cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase (COX-2), and exerted anti-colitis effects.Conclusion: This study shows that the synbiotic composed of AX and L. fermentum HFY06 has the potential to prevent and treat colitis.Keywords: Lactobacillus fermentum, arabinoxylan, colitis, inflammation, mice
