Polysaccharides from natural food sources like fungi and plants can significantly enhance intestinal health and prevent ulcerative colitis (UC) through various physiological activities.
The study primarily focused on the role of natural food polysaccharides in promoting intestinal health. Derived from sources like edible fungi and plants, these substances exhibit remarkable potential in preventing UC, a common inflammatory bowel disease. The researchers have investigated their action mechanism which mainly involved promoting beneficial bacteria, reducing harmful bacteria, increasing Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) content, and exerting prebiotic effects. The polysaccharides' ability to prevent UC by blocking certain cellular pathways, regulating tight junctions, repairing the intestinal barrier function, inhibiting oxidative stress, and mitigating oxidative damage to the colon tissue was also explored. The structure of these polysacaccharides and their relationship to the prevention of UC were however not covered fully in the study.
The obtained results deliver a profound understanding of the preventive effects of natural food polysaccharides on UC. Their capacity to promote beneficial bacteria while reducing the harmful species has been emphasized. They were also found to increase the content of SCFAs and act as prebiotics. Additionally, their role in blocking certain signaling pathways and thus preventing oxidative stress and damage further presents them as effective defense agents against UC. The observations related to the relationship between the structure of these polysaccharides and the prevention of UC were less conclusive. This study, however, did note a lacking of clear connection between the molecular weight of polysaccharides and their preventive effects, leaving room for future extensive study in this area.
