Protective effect and mechanism of polysaccharide from Dictyophora indusiata on dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis in C57BL/6 mice.

Polysaccharide (DIP) from Dictyophora indusiata has showed noteworthy anti-inflammatory activities. Given that the closely relationship between inflammation and ulcerative colitis, we speculated that DIP may alleviate ulcerative colitis. However, there was not any report about the effect of DIP on this disease. The purpose of this paper is to explore the protective effect and mechanism of DIP on DSS-induced colitis in C57BL/6 mice. The data indicated that DIP could improve DSS-induced colitis by restoring intestinal barrier function and regulating macrophage polarization. Its mechanism was found to be associated with decreased oxidative stresses and inflammation, suppressive key signal pathways related with colitis, improved the expression of tight junction proteins and down-regulated M1 macrophage polarization. The results suggested that DIP could be served as an agent for improving intestinal inflammation in functional foods or nutraceutical formulations.