Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) is widely used in food and medicine as a biodegradable polymer. However, its effects on inflammation profile and colon health are not well investigated. In the present study, CMC was given to mice to evaluate its possible effects on body weight, blood glucose level, inflammation factors, intestinal permeability and colon microbiota. Results showed that blood glucose level of CMC treated mice was relatively higher than control ones. Glucose tolerance test revealed that CMC treated mice presented higher peak glucose level and lower lag level. CMC treatment increased serum LDL-c level, decreased serum HDL-c and IL-10 level in the fat tissue. Moreover, CMC treatment downregulated the expression of tight junction protein, occludin and ZO-1, in colon as evaluated by Western blot. Colon microbiota analysis demonstrated that CMC treatment significantly decreased the OTUs and relative species abundance. The level of Enterobacteriaceae, Lachnospiraceae and several other bacteria were much higher in the colon content of CMC treated mice. The results collectively suggest that CMC treatment induces disturbance of glucose and fat metabolism, affects the inflammation profile, perturbs colon microbiota balance.

中文翻译：

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羧甲基壳聚糖扰乱小鼠的炎症状况和结肠微生物群平衡

羧甲基壳聚糖（CMC）作为一种可生物降解的聚合物被广泛应用于食品和医药。然而，它对炎症特征和结肠健康的影响没有得到很好的研究。在本研究中，CMC 被给予小鼠以评估其对体重、血糖水平、炎症因子、肠道通透性和结肠微生物群的可能影响。结果显示，CMC处理的小鼠的血糖水平相对高于对照小鼠。葡萄糖耐量试验表明，CMC 处理的小鼠表现出较高的峰值葡萄糖水平和较低的滞后水平。CMC治疗增加了血清LDL-c水平，降低了脂肪组织中的血清HDL-c和IL-10水平。此外，通过蛋白质印迹评估，CMC 处理下调了结肠中紧密连接蛋白 occludin 和 ZO-1 的表达。结肠微生物群分析表明，CMC 处理显着降低了 OTU 和相对物种丰度。肠杆菌科、毛螺菌科和其他几种细菌的水平在 CMC 处理的小鼠的结肠含量中要高得多。结果共同表明，CMC 治疗会引起葡萄糖和脂肪代谢紊乱，影响炎症状况，扰乱结肠微生物群平衡。