Regulation of Microbiota by Morel Polysaccharide Alleviates Small Intestine Damage in LPSInduced Mice

This study investigates the effect of Morel's polysaccharides (MP) against LPSinduced intestinal damage by regulating oxidative stress, inflammation, and microbiota, compared with previous studies that have examined the protective roles of polysaccharides or focused solely on LPS-induced intestinal damage in mice.Thirty (30) ICR mice were grouped into AC (control), AM (LPS model), and AT (treatment) groups.Group AT received MP treatment for 20 days, followed by LPS treatment for 24 hours intraperitoneally, while group AM only received LPS.Results indicated a slight weight gain in group AT treated with MP compared to other groups.Conversely, significant weight loss was observed in mice of group AM following LPS treatment (P<0.0001).Pathological analysis demonstrated that LPS severely interfered with the integrity of intestinal villi, with group AC and group AT exhibiting significantly longer villus height than group AM (P<0.0001).Serum analysis indicated that TNF- and MDA levels were significantly higher in group AM (P<0.05), but IL-10 (P<0.001),NO (P<0.01),SOD (P<0.01), and GSH-Px (P<0.0001) were significantly lower in LPS-induced ICR animals in group M. The genus of Erysipelatoclostridiaceae was higher in group AC, while Proteobacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterobacterales, Gammaproteobacteria, Escherichia, Shigella, Enterococcus, and Enterococcaceae were higher in group AM.Group AT exhibited higher levels of Peptococcus, ASF356, Roseburia, unclassified Prevotellaceae, Acetatifactor, Vampirivibrionia, and Cyanobacteria.The results show that MP treatment significantly enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities, reduced oxidative stress markers, and improved overall oxidative resistance compared to the LPS group.MP also mitigated inflammation and favorably modulated the gut microbiota, which suggests its potential as a therapeutic agent for intestinal health.