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Effects of Natural Polysaccharides on the Gut Microbiota Related to Human Metabolic Health

Summary

Natural plant and organism sugars called polysaccharides can improve your gut health by feeding beneficial bacteria and strengthening your intestinal barrier. These compounds help prevent diseases like obesity, diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease by changing the types of bacteria in your gut and producing helpful substances. Polysaccharides come from common foods like mushrooms, seaweed, berries, and vegetables, making them potential natural treatments for various health conditions.

Background

Natural polysaccharides (NPs) are sugar chains composed of at least 10 monosaccharides with broad biological activity. The human gut microbiome plays a crucial role in host metabolism, immunity, and disease prevention. Numerous studies have demonstrated relationships between gut flora composition and the occurrence of various human diseases.

Objective

This review examines how natural polysaccharides affect the gut microbiota and their role in improving metabolic health and treating diseases including obesity, metabolic disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and immune dysfunction. The review also summarizes NP extraction, purification, and structural characteristics while discussing structure-activity correlations.

Results

Natural polysaccharides affect the gut microbiota through multiple pathways: acting as fermentation substrates (prebiotics) that promote beneficial bacterial growth, producing short-chain fatty acids, improving intestinal barrier function, modulating immunity, and reducing oxidative stress. Specific polysaccharides from various sources demonstrate efficacy against obesity, IBD, cancer, and metabolic disorders by modifying microbial composition and metabolite production.

Conclusion

Natural polysaccharides represent promising therapeutic agents for treating microbiota-related diseases through dual mechanisms of serving as fermentation substrates and improving gut homeostasis. Further research into structure-activity relationships and integrated extraction-purification methods will enhance their potential clinical applications.
  • Published in:Molecular Nutrition & Food Research,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: 40207751
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