Tian Qianghong, Yu Donglin, Shen Junxi, Fang Leyao, Cai Ying
School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2025 Aug 14;15:1652186. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1652186. eCollection 2025.
Wuling powder has been widely used for the clinical treatment of IBS-D, but the microecological mechanism has not been found. This study aimed to investigate the regulatory effect of Wuling powder on intestinal mucosal microbiota in mice with diarrhea predominant-irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) by 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing.
Mice were randomly divided into normal control group (Mc), model control group (Mm), and treatment group (Mt). The IBS-D model was induced via gavage and acute restraint stress, and treatment was conducted with Wuling powder. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and milk fat globule EGF factor 8 (MFGE8) were quantified via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Intestinal mucosal DNA was extracted for 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing to analyze microbial community alterations. We analyzed the characteristics of the intestinal mucosal microbiota and explored the potential link between the intestinal mucosal microbiota and the inflammatory response.
Compared with the Mc group, the Mm group presented markedly elevated serum TNF-α and IL-6 concentrations (<0.001; <0.001) and significantly decreased MFGE8 levels (<0.01). In contrast, the Mt group presented significant reductions in TNF-α and IL-6 (<0.05; <0.05) and a pronounced increase in MFGE8 (<0.01) relative to those in the Mm group. After treatment with Wuling powder, the abundance and diversity of the intestinal mucosal microbiota were restored. The characteristic genus was significantly positively correlated with MFGE8, and was significantly negatively correlated with TNF-α and IL-6.
Wuling powder may inhibit the occurrence of an inflammatory response by reducing the TNF-α and IL-6 levels and increasing the MFGE8 level and may achieve the effect of treating IBS-D by regulating the composition, structure, and function of the intestinal mucosal microbiota, which provides new ideas for the clinical prevention and treatment of IBS-D via Wuling powder.
五苓散已被广泛用于腹泻型肠易激综合征（IBS-D）的临床治疗，但其微生态机制尚未明确。本研究旨在通过16S rRNA高通量测序，探讨五苓散对腹泻型肠易激综合征小鼠肠道黏膜微生物群的调节作用。
将小鼠随机分为正常对照组（Mc）、模型对照组（Mm）和治疗组（Mt）。通过灌胃和急性束缚应激诱导IBS-D模型，并用五苓散进行治疗。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法测定血清肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）和乳脂肪球表皮生长因子8（MFGE8）水平。提取肠道黏膜DNA进行16S rRNA基因高通量测序，分析微生物群落变化。我们分析了肠道黏膜微生物群的特征，并探讨了肠道黏膜微生物群与炎症反应之间的潜在联系。
与Mc组相比，Mm组血清TNF-α和IL-6浓度显著升高（<0.001；<0.001），MFGE8水平显著降低（<0.01）。相比之下，与Mm组相比，Mt组TNF-α和IL-6显著降低（<0.05；<0.05），MFGE8显著升高（<0.01）。用五苓散治疗后，肠道黏膜微生物群的丰度和多样性得以恢复。特征菌属与MFGE8呈显著正相关，与TNF-α和IL-6呈显著负相关。
五苓散可能通过降低TNF-α和IL-6水平、提高MFGE8水平来抑制炎症反应的发生，并可能通过调节肠道黏膜微生物群的组成、结构和功能来达到治疗IBS-D的效果，这为五苓散临床防治IBS-D提供了新思路。
