Low Dosage of Chitosan Supplementation Improves Intestinal Permeability and Impairs Barrier Function in Mice

Effects of Three Kinds of Carbohydrate Pharmaceutical Excipients-Fructose, Lactose and Arabic Gum on Intestinal Absorption of Gastrodin through Glucose Transport Pathway in Rats

BACKGROUND

Some glucoside drugs can be transported via intestinal glucose transporters (IGTs), and the presence of carbohydrate excipients in pharmaceutical formulations may influence the absorption of them. This study, using gastrodin as probe drug, aimed to explore the effects of fructose, lactose, and arabic gum on intestinal drug absorption mediated by the glucose transport pathway.

METHODS

The influence of fructose, lactose, and arabic gum on gastrodin absorption was assessed via pharmacokinetic experiments and single-pass intestinal perfusion. The expression of sodium-dependent glucose transporter 1 (SGLT1) and sodium-independent glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) was quantified via RT‒qPCR and western blotting. Alterations in rat intestinal permeability were evaluated through H&E staining, RT‒qPCR, and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

Fructose reduced the area under the curve (AUC) and peak concentration (Cmax) of gastrodin by 42.7% and 63.71%, respectively (P < 0.05), and decreased the effective permeability coefficient (Peff) in the duodenum and jejunum by 58.1% and 49.2%, respectively (P < 0.05). SGLT1 and GLUT2 expression and intestinal permeability remained unchanged. Lactose enhanced the AUC and Cmax of gastrodin by 31.5% and 65.8%, respectively (P < 0.05), and increased the Peff in the duodenum and jejunum by 33.7% and 26.1%, respectively (P < 0.05). SGLT1 and GLUT2 levels did not significantly differ, intestinal permeability increased. Arabic gum had no notable effect on pharmacokinetic parameters, SGLT1 or GLUT2 expression, or intestinal permeability.

CONCLUSION

Fructose, lactose, and arabic gum differentially affect intestinal drug absorption through the glucose transport pathway. Fructose competitively inhibited drug absorption, while lactose may enhance absorption by increasing intestinal permeability. Arabic gum had no significant influence.

Influence of dietary chitosan-oligosaccharides supplementation on productive and reproductive performance of laying hens

This experiment aimed to ascertain whether adding chitosan-oligosaccharides (COS) to the diet will affect Mandarah laying hens’ productivity and reproductive efficiency. At the age of 34 weeks, 120 laying hens and 12 cocks of the Mandarah chicken strain were separated into four groups, each consisting of 30 hens and three cocks. The 1st group served as a control group, receiving only a basic diet. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th experimental groups received 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 g/kg of chitosan-oligosaccharides as an addition to the base diet, respectively. According to the findings of this study, the majority of the analyzed attributes differed significantly between treatment groups. Comparing the COS-treated birds to the control birds, the COS-treated birds significantly increased egg production, improved feed conversion, haugh unit score, shell thickness, fertility, hatchability, ovary weight, and the number of yellow ovarian follicles as well as blood estradiol-17β (E2) and testosterone concentrations. Furthermore, compared to the other treated groups, introducing COS at a level 0.1 g/kg diet resulted in the best laying rate, egg mass, and feed conversion. The highest percentage of fertility, hatchability of hatching eggs, ovary weight, number of yellow ovarian follicles, and serum E2 concentration was also found in birds fed COS at a dose of 0.2 g/kg feed. In addition, compared to the control diet, COS treatment at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 g/kg enhanced relative economic efficiency by 464.43, 457.41, and 352.75%, respectively. It is concluded that chitosan improves economic efficiency, reproductive performance, productivity in laying hens, and overall health when used at a 0.1 g/kg diet.

Nondigestible Functional Oligosaccharides: Enzymatic Production and Food Applications for Intestinal Health

Nondigestible functional oligosaccharides are of particular interest in recent years because of their unique prebiotic activities, technological characteristics, and physiological effects. Among different types of strategies for the production of nondigestible functional oligosaccharides, enzymatic methods are preferred owing to the predictability and controllability of the structure and composition of the reaction products. Nondigestible functional oligosaccharides have been proved to show excellent prebiotic effects as well as other benefits to intestinal health. They have exhibited great application potential as functional food ingredients for various food products with improved quality and physicochemical characteristics. This article reviews the research progress on the enzymatic production of several typical nondigestible functional oligosaccharides in the food industry, including galacto-oligosaccharides, xylo-oligosaccharides, manno-oligosaccharides, chito-oligosaccharides, and human milk oligosaccharides. Moreover, their physicochemical properties and prebiotic activities are discussed as well as their contributions to intestinal health and applications in foods.

Marine Chitooligosaccharide Alters Intestinal Flora Structure and Regulates Hepatic Inflammatory Response to Influence Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

In this study, C57BL/6 mice were given an HFHSD diet for 8 weeks to induce hepatic steatosis and then given COSM solution orally for 12 weeks. The study found that the HFHSD diet resulted in steatosis and insulin resistance in mice. The formation of NAFLD induced by HFHSD diet was related to the imbalance of intestinal flora. However, after COSM intervention, the abundance of beneficial bacteria increased significantly, while the abundance of harmful bacteria decreased significantly. The HFHSD diet also induced changes in intestinal bacterial metabolites, and the content of short-chain fatty acids in cecal contents after COSM intervention was significantly higher than that in the model group. In addition, COSM not only improved LPS levels and barrier dysfunction in the ileum and colon but upregulated protein levels of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin in the colon and downregulated the liver LPS/TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory pathway. We concluded that the treatment of marine chitooligosaccharide COSM could improve the intestinal microflora structure of the fatty liver and activate an inflammatory signaling pathway, thus alleviating the intrahepatic lipid accumulation induced by HFHSD.

Microbial chitinases: properties, enhancement and potential applications

Chitinases are a category of hydrolytic enzymes that catalyze chitin and are formed by a wide variety of microorganisms. In nature, microbial chitinases are primarily responsible for chitin decomposition and play a vital role in the balance of carbon and nitrogen ratio in the ecosystem. The physicochemical attributes and the source of chitinase are the main bases that determine their functional characteristics and hydrolyzed products. Several chitinases have been reported and characterized, and they obtain a wider consideration for their utilization in a large number of uses such as in agriculture, food, environment, medicine and pharmaceutical companies. The antifungal and insecticidal impacts of several chitinases have been extensively studied, aiming to protect crops from phytopathogenic fungi and insects. Chitooligosaccharides synthesized by chitin degradation have been shown to improve human health through their antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. This review aims at investigating chitinase production, properties and their potential applications in various biotechnological fields.

Biological Effects and Applications of Chitosan and Chito-Oligosaccharides

The numerous functional properties and biological effects of chitosan and chito-oligosaccharides (COS) have led to a significant level of interest, particularly with regard to their potential use in the agricultural, environmental, nutritional, and pharmaceutical fields. This review covers recent studies on the biological functions of COS and the impacts of dietary chitosan and COS on metabolism. The majority of results suggest that the use of chitosan as a feed additive has favorable biological effects, such as antimicrobial, anti-oxidative, cholesterol reducing, and immunomodulatory effects. The biological impacts reviewed herein may provide a new appreciation for the future use of COS.

A Review of the Preparation, Analysis and Biological Functions of Chitooligosaccharide

Chitooligosaccharide (COS), which is acknowledged for possessing multiple functions, is a kind of low-molecular-weight polymer prepared by degrading chitosan via enzymatic, chemical methods, etc. COS has comprehensive applications in various fields including food, agriculture, pharmacy, clinical therapy, and environmental industries. Besides having excellent properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, adsorptive abilities and non-toxicity like chitin and chitosan, COS has better solubility. In addition, COS has strong biological functions including anti-inflammatory, antitumor, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective effects, etc. The present paper has summarized the preparation methods, analytical techniques and biological functions to provide an overall understanding of the application of COS.

Thermosensitive Chitosan Hydrogels Containing Polymeric Microspheres for Vaginal Drug Delivery

Thermosensitive hydrogels have increasingly received considerable attention for local drug delivery based on many advantages. However, burst release of drugs is becoming a critical challenge when the hydrogels are employed. Microspheres- (MS-) loaded thermosensitive hydrogels were thus fabricated to address this limitation. Employing an orthogonal design, the spray-dried operations of tenofovir (TFV)/Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP)/chitosan (CTS) MS were optimized according to the drug loading (DL). The physicochemical properties of the optimal MS (MS F) were characterized. Depending on the gelation temperature and gelating time, the optimal CTS-sodium alginate- (SA-) α,β-glycerophosphate (GP) (CTS-SA-GP) hydrogel was obtained. Observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), TFV/BSP/CTS MS were successfully encapsulated in CTS-SA-GP. In vitro releasing demonstrated that MS F-CTS-SA-GP retained desirable in vitro sustained-release characteristics as a vaginal delivery system. Bioadhesion measurement showed that MS-CTS-SA-GP exhibited the highest mucoadhesive strength. Collectively, MS-CTS-SA-GP holds great promise for topical applications as a sustained-release vaginal drug delivery system.