Neoagarotetraose (NT), a hydrolytic product of agar by β-agarase, is known to possess bioactive properties. However, the mechanisms via which NT alleviates intestinal inflammation remain unknown. In this study, a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced murine model was developed to evaluate the effect of NT on gut microbiome and microbial metabolism using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. Our data demonstrate that NT ingestion improved gut integrity and inflammation scores. NT reversed the abundance of Proteobacteria from an elevated level induced by DSS and significantly increased the abundance of Verrucomicrobia. Further, NT significantly increased the abundance of Akkermansia and Lactobacillus and concomitantly decreased that of Sutterella, which were among the important features identified by random forests analysis contributing to classification accuracy for NT supplementation. A microbial signature consisting of Adlercreutzia (denominator) and Turicibacter (numerator) predicted the NT supplementation status. Moreover, NT significantly modulated multiple gut metabolites, particularly those related to histidine, polyamine and tocopherol metabolism. Together, our findings provided novel insights into the mechanisms by which NT modulated the gut microbiome and metabolome and should facilitate the development of NT as a potent prebiotic for colitis management.

中文翻译：

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预测新葡糖四糖在葡聚糖硫酸盐钠诱导的小鼠结肠炎模型中的益生元作用的分子和微生物特征。

众所周知，新琼脂四糖（NT）是由β-琼脂酶水解的琼脂，具有生物活性。但是，NT减轻肠道炎症的机制仍然未知。在这项研究中，开发了葡聚糖硫酸钠（DSS）诱导的小鼠模型，以评估NT对肠道微生物组和微生物代谢的影响，使用16S rRNA基因测序和非靶向代谢组学。我们的数据表明，NT摄入改善了肠道完整性和炎症评分。NT从DSS诱导的升高水平中逆转了变形杆菌的丰度，并显着增加了Verrucomicrobia的丰度。此外，NT显着增加了阿克曼虫和乳杆菌的丰度，并随之降低了Sutterella的丰度。，这是通过随机森林分析确定的重要特征之一，有助于提高NT补充的分类准确性。由Adlercreutzia（分母）和Turicibacter（分子）组成的微生物特征预测了NT的补充状态。此外，NT显着调节多种肠道代谢产物，特别是与组氨酸，多胺和生育酚代谢有关的代谢产物。总之，我们的发现为NT调节肠道微生物组和代谢组的机制提供了新颖的见解，并应促进NT作为结肠炎管理的有效益生元的发展。