Qiao Ming, Xue Taotao, Zhu Yi, Yang Jianhua, Hu Junping
Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, China; Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Clinical Drug Research, Urumqi 830011, China.
College of Pharmacy, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 May;308(Pt 2):142452. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.142452. Epub 2025 Mar 24.
Polysaccharides of Cistanche deserticola Ma (CDPS), with high safety and low toxicity have been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-osteoporosis, antidepressant, intestinal flora regulatory and hepatoprotective properties. Nevertheless, the effects of CDPS on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its underlying mechanisms have never been reported. To estimate its therapeutic potential on IBD, the extracted CDPS were characterized via utilizing a series of chemical, spectroscopic, and instrumental analyses, and the protective effects and mechanisms of CDPS in colitis mice was investigated. Our results indicated that CDPS were identified as acidic heteropolysaccharides. CDPS alleviated dextran sodium sulfate-induced IBD mice characterized by decreasing disease activity index, improving colon length and body weight, restoring histopathological lesions, inhibiting the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α) and MPO activity, elevating the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) in colon tissue. The findings manifested CDPS could mitigate the inflammation of colon. Simultaneously, CDPS inhibited the expression of genes and proteins associated with SRC/EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling pathways, and reduced the diversity and abundance of harmful gut microbiota, including Helicobacter, Bacteroides and Colidextribacter, while descending the relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group at genus level. In summary, this work elucidated that CDPS alleviates IBD symptoms via mitigating the inflammation of colon, and modulating intestinal microbiota and SRC/EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. It underscores the promise of CDPS as a functional food ingredient or preventive drugs for IBD.
肉苁蓉多糖（CDPS）具有高安全性和低毒性，据报道具有抗炎、免疫调节、抗氧化、抗衰老、抗骨质疏松、抗抑郁、调节肠道菌群和保肝等特性。然而，CDPS对炎症性肠病（IBD）的影响及其潜在机制尚未见报道。为评估其对IBD的治疗潜力，通过一系列化学、光谱和仪器分析对提取的CDPS进行了表征，并研究了CDPS在结肠炎小鼠中的保护作用及其机制。我们的结果表明，CDPS被鉴定为酸性杂多糖。CDPS可减轻葡聚糖硫酸钠诱导的IBD小鼠的症状，表现为降低疾病活动指数、改善结肠长度和体重、恢复组织病理学损伤、抑制促炎细胞因子（IL-6、IL-1β、TNF-α）的表达和MPO活性，提高结肠组织中抗炎细胞因子（IL-10）的表达。这些发现表明CDPS可以减轻结肠炎症。同时，CDPS抑制了与SRC/EGFR/PI3K/AKT信号通路相关的基因和蛋白质的表达，并降低了有害肠道微生物群的多样性和丰度，包括幽门螺杆菌、拟杆菌和结肠杆菌，同时在属水平上降低了毛螺菌科_NK4A136_组的相对丰度。总之，这项研究阐明了CDPS通过减轻结肠炎症、调节肠道微生物群和SRC/EGFR/PI3K/AKT信号通路来缓解IBD症状。这突出了CDPS作为IBD功能性食品成分或预防药物的前景。
