Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmacological and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, 31-98166 Messina, Italy.
Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA.
Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jun 22;19(7):1844. doi: 10.3390/ijms19071844.
Acute infectious gastroenteritis (GE) and urinary tract infection (UTI) are common diseases and are normally perceived as mild and limiting illnesses. Xyloglucan is a natural plant polymer with protective barrier properties, also known as “mucosal protectors”, which is the main ingredient of medical devices developed for the management of different diseases, such as gastrointestinal diseases, urinary tract infections, or respiratory allergic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of xyloglucan in association with gelose (also called agar) in an experimental model of bacterial GE and UTI in rats. Two kinds of infection were induced by oral administration of and for three days. Two days before the bacterial administration, preventive oral treatment with xyloglucan + gelose (10 mg/kg + 5 mg/kg) was performed daily until the seventh day. Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, rats were sacrificed and urinary tracts and intestines for different analysis were collected. The results showed that xyloglucan plus gelose was able to reduce intestinal morphological changes ( < 0.05 for both), tight junctions (TJ) permeability ( < 0.001 for both), and neutrophil infiltration ( < 0.05 for both) induced by bacterial infections, highlighting its barrier proprieties. Moreover, the compound reduced the number of bacterial colonies in the urinary tract favoring elimination by feces. The results obtained in the present study suggest that the protective barrier properties of xyloglucan plus gelose allow the prevention of GE and UTI in models of infections in rats.
急性感染性胃肠炎（GE）和尿路感染（UTI）是常见疾病，通常被认为是轻度和局限性疾病。木葡聚糖是一种具有保护屏障特性的天然植物聚合物，也被称为“黏膜保护剂”，它是开发用于治疗不同疾病的医疗器械的主要成分，如胃肠道疾病、尿路感染或呼吸道过敏性疾病。本研究旨在评估木葡聚糖与凝胶（也称为琼脂）联合在大鼠细菌 GE 和 UTI 实验模型中的保护作用。通过口服给予 和 三天来诱导两种感染。在细菌给药前两天，每天进行预防性口服木葡聚糖+凝胶（10mg/kg+5mg/kg）治疗，直至第 7 天。最后一次治疗后 24 小时，处死大鼠并收集用于不同分析的尿路和肠道。结果表明，木葡聚糖加凝胶能够减少肠道形态学变化（两者均<0.05）、紧密连接（TJ）通透性（两者均<0.001）和中性粒细胞浸润（两者均<0.05）由细菌感染引起，突出了其屏障特性。此外，该化合物减少了尿路中的细菌菌落数量，有利于通过粪便排出。本研究的结果表明，木葡聚糖加凝胶的保护屏障特性允许在大鼠感染模型中预防 GE 和 UTI。
