Effects of stachyose on intestinal microbiota and immunity in mice infected with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Abstract

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is an important pathogen causing diarrhea in humans. Finding natural, safe and effective functional ingredients to replace antibiotics is an important direction for preventing and treating E. coli infection and protecting intestinal health. However, it is unknown whether stachyose promotes the proliferation of probiotics and thus inhibits ETEC infection. Here, we investigated whether stachyose improves the gut microbiota of ETEC-infected mice and induces effects in early postnatal life. Stachyose promoted the proliferation of A. muciniphila and Bifidobacterium, increased short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) levels, increased the expression of tight junction proteins (occludin and ZO-1), increased SIgA and albumin levels, and reduced the level of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), IL-1, 6, 17 and TNF-α. After antibiotic-induced ablation, the resistance of the intestinal microbiota of the ETEC-infected mice to bacteria was significantly reduced, and the level of inflammation was increased, the SIgA and albumin levels decreased significantly, showed the intestinal microbiota plays an important role in maintaining immune resistance. Stachyose enabled partial microbiota recovery and protection after ETEC infection.

Keywords

• Stachyose
• Intestinal microbiota
• Gut barrier
• Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli