This study was designed to explore the improvement of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) on constipation through regulation of gut microbiota. Here, we proved that COS treatment profoundly boosted intestinal motility, restrained inflammatory responses, improved water-electrolyte metabolism and prevented gut barrier damage in constipated mice induced by loperamide. By 16S rDNA gene sequencing, the disbalanced gut microbiota was observed in constipated mice, while COS treatment statistically reversed the abundance changes of several intestinal bacteria at either phylum, family and genus levels, which partly led to the balance in production of intestinal metabolites including bile acids, short-chain fatty acids and tryptophan catabolites. In addition, COS failed to relieve the constipation in mice with intestinal flora depletion, confirming the essentiality of gut microbiota in COS-initiated prevention against constipation. In summary, COS can ameliorate the development of loperamide-induced constipation in mice by remodeling the structure of gut microbial community.

本研究旨在探讨通过调节肠道菌群来改善壳聚糖寡糖（COS）对便秘的作用。在这里，我们证明了COS治疗可极大地增强洛哌丁胺致便秘小鼠的肠蠕动，抑制炎症反应，改善水电解质代谢并防止肠屏障损伤。通过16S rDNA基因测序，在便秘小鼠中观察到肠道菌群失衡，而COS处理在统计学上逆转了门，属和属水平上几种肠道细菌的丰度变化，部分导致了包括胆汁在内的肠道代谢产物的平衡。酸，短链脂肪酸和色氨酸分解代谢产物。此外，COS无法缓解肠道菌群枯竭小鼠的便秘，证实了肠道菌群在COS启动的预防便秘中的重要性。总之，COS可以通过重塑肠道微生物群落的结构来改善洛哌丁胺诱导的便秘的发展。