Biostudy on Traditional Chinese Medicine Massa Medicata Fermentata

Bacillus subtilis and Bifidobacteria bifidum Fermentation Effects on Various Active Ingredient Contents in Cornus officinalis Fruit

Microbial fermentation has been widely used to improve the quality and functional composition of food and edibles; however, the approach has rarely been applied to traditional Chinese medicines. In this study, to understand the effect of microbial fermentation on the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines, we used Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bacillus subtilis to ferment the traditional Chinese medicine, Cornus officinalis fruit (COF), and determined the levels of active ingredients using HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography). According to the results, both B. subtilis and B. bifidum substantially increased the amount of gallic acid in the COF culture broth after fermentation; however, the two species of bacteria had no effect on the loganin content. Moreover, the B. subtilis fermentation reduced the contents of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid in the COF broth, whereas the B. bifidum fermentation did not. This study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanism by which microbial fermentation alters the active ingredient levels of traditional Chinese medicines, and suggests that fermentation may potentially improve their functional ingredients.

Processing Mechanism of Massa Medicata Fermentata Based on the Correlation Analysis of Strains, Chemical Compositions and Anti-Inflammatory Activity

The traditional Chinese medicine of fermented medicine may be under the involvement of multiple strains and the interaction between these microorganisms. Liu Shenqu (Massa Medicata Fermentata, MMF) is one of the most widely used fermented medicines, whose potential processing mechanism is still unclear. In this work, UPLC/MS and GNPS methods were employed to rapidly predict chemical compositions in MMF. Moreover, the dynamic changes of strains, chemical compositions and anti-inflammatory activity of MMF during fermentation process were investigated, and subsequently strains-chemical compositions-efficacy interactions were revealed by Pearson correlation analysis and partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis. As a result, 24 components were identified, and the potential strains including Bacillus, Burkholderia_Caballeronia_Paraburkholderia, Enterobacter, Aspergillus heterocaryoticus, Rhizopus arrhizus, Kazachstania bulderi, which related to the production of anti-inflammatory active ingredients were exposed. These results demonstrated chemical compositions-strains-efficacy interactions during fermentation of MMF, and provide reference for the exploration of the processing mechanism of MMF.

Effects of Massa Medicata Fermentata on the intestinal pathogenic flagella bacteria and visceral hypersensitivity in rats with irritable bowel syndrome

Objective: To investigate the effect of Massa Medicata Fermentata (MMF) on the changes of pathogenic flagellar bacteria and visceral hypersensitivity in rats with diarrhea irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). Methods: Thirty adult SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n = 10), model control group (n = 10), and MMF group (n = 10). Acetic acid enema combined with restraint stress was used to build the IBS-D visceral hypersensitivity model; Abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR) test was used to assess the visceral sensitivity of rats; 16SrRNA sequencing was used to analyze the changes of intestinal bacteria in each group, and the content of pathogenic flagellated bacteria were quantitatively counted; The content of flagellin in colonic mucosa was detected by ELISA; TLR5 protein in colonic mucosa of rats was detected by Western Blot. Results: After IBS-D modeling, the visceral sensitivity of rats was significantly higher in the model control group than that in the normal control group (p = 0.0061), while it was significantly decreased in MMF group compared with the model control group (p = 0.0217), but without significant difference compared with the normal control group (p = 0.6851). The number of fecal Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in the model group were significantly decreased compared with the normal control group (p < 0.0001); While they were significantly increased in the MMF group compared with the model control group and normal control group (p = 0.009; p < 0.0001). The amount of fecal pathogenic flagellated bacteria in the model group was significantly increased compared with the normal control group (p = 0.001); However it was significantly reduced in MMF group compared with the model group (p = 0.026), which has no statistically difference with the normal control group (p = 0.6486). The content of flagellin in colonic mucosa was significantly increased in the model group when compared with the normal control group (p < 0.0001), and it was decreased in MMF group compared with the normal control group (p < 0.0001), but there was no statistical difference with the normal control group (p = 0.6545). The expression level of TLR5 protein in colonic mucosa of rat was significantly increased in model control group compared with the normal control group (p = 0.0034), However, it was significantly decreased in MMF group compared with normal control group (p = 0.0019), but it was no statistical difference with the normal control group (p = 0.7519). Conclusion: MMF can reduce visceral hypersensitivity by decreasing the content of pathogenic flagellated bacteria and their flagellin and inhibiting its specific receptor TLR5 protein expression in colonic mucosa in IBS-D rats.