Ren Pengfei, Wei Biqian, Qin Wanting, Tang Qingjuan, Wang Yuming, Xue Changhu
State Key Laboratory of Marine Food Processing &Safety Control, College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong 266003, China.
Food Funct. 2025 Jan 20;16(2):524-538. doi: 10.1039/d4fo04890c.
This study utilized colonic fermentation to examine the impact of astaxanthin on the microbial catabolism of tryptophan. Astaxanthin significantly altered the gut microbiota and raised the tryptophan catabolism metabolite levels in an human colonic fermentation system. To eliminate the influence of substrate availability, we conducted colonic fermentation of the gut microbiota of astaxanthin-domesticated mice. We observed that the capacity of astaxanthin-domesticated gut microbiota to catalyze the conversion of tryptophan to indole and derivatives was considerably augmented. Astaxanthin significantly increased the relative abundance of , , and and elevated the levels of indole-3-lactic acid and indole-3-propionic acid. These results demonstrated that astaxanthin regulates tryptophan metabolism by modifying gut microbiota and increasing the levels of indole metabolites, such as indole-3-lactic acid and indole-3-propionic acid. This study provides insights into the physiological activity of astaxanthin and sheds light on the potential for enhancing tryptophan metabolism through dietary manipulation of the gut microbiota.
本研究利用结肠发酵来检验虾青素对色氨酸微生物分解代谢的影响。在人体结肠发酵系统中，虾青素显著改变了肠道微生物群并提高了色氨酸分解代谢产物的水平。为消除底物可用性的影响，我们对经虾青素驯化的小鼠的肠道微生物群进行了结肠发酵。我们观察到，经虾青素驯化的肠道微生物群催化色氨酸转化为吲哚及其衍生物的能力显著增强。虾青素显著增加了[具体菌属名称缺失]、[具体菌属名称缺失]、[具体菌属名称缺失]和[具体菌属名称缺失]的相对丰度，并提高了吲哚 - 3 - 乳酸和吲哚 - 3 - 丙酸的水平。这些结果表明，虾青素通过改变肠道微生物群和增加吲哚代谢产物（如吲哚 - 3 - 乳酸和吲哚 - 3 - 丙酸）的水平来调节色氨酸代谢。本研究为虾青素的生理活性提供了见解，并揭示了通过饮食调控肠道微生物群来增强色氨酸代谢的潜力。
