Abstract
The health‐promoting effects of phycocyanin (PC) have become widely accepted over the last two decades. In this study, we investigated the effects of different doses of PC in modulating the intestinal microbiota and the intestinal barrier in mice. Six‐week‐old male C57BL/6 mice were treated with PC for 28 days. Fecal samples were collected before and after PC intervention, and the microbiota were analyzed by 16S rRNA high‐throughput sequencing. Bacterial abundance and diversity increased after PC intervention. Saccharolytic bacteria of the families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae, which can produce butyric acid, increased after PC treatment. The family Rikenellaceae, which contains hydrogen‐producing bacteria, also increased after PC intervention. The PC treatment reduced intestinal permeability and increased the intestinal barrier function, as demonstrated by hematoxylin–eosin staining and reduced serum lipopolysaccharide levels. The modulating effects on the intestinal microbiota were more favorable in the low‐dose PC group.
Highlights
The mammalian intestinal microbiota is highly complex and in dy‐ namic equilibrium (Friche & Prado, 2017), and the balance of the in‐ testinal microbiota is crucial to maintaining the host's health
According to previ‐ ous studies, proteins promote the growth of intestinal bacteria, and many of the nutrients available to these bacteria in the intestine derive from undigested proteins from the host's diet (Consortium et al, 2012)
Male C57BL/6 mice were selected as an experimental model and 16S rRNA high‐throughput sequencing was used to analyze the effects of PC treatment on the intestinal microbiota
Summary
The mammalian intestinal microbiota is highly complex and in dy‐ namic equilibrium (Friche & Prado, 2017), and the balance of the in‐ testinal microbiota is crucial to maintaining the host's health. Phycocyanin (PC) is a light‐harvesting protein in the genus Arthrospiraplatensis, which participates in algal photosynthesis. It is an excellent natural dietary pigment (Li et al, 2017). The moderate restriction of dietary protein altered the composi‐ tion of the gut microbiota and improved the ileal barrier function of adult pigs (Chen et al, 2018). The microbial composition and a wide range of microbial metabolites played a complex role in various host processes, such as energy harvesting, recovery from inflammation and infection, resistance to autoimmunity, and endocrine signaling, which affect brain function through the intestinal–brain axis (Han et al, 2016; Hollister, Gao, & Versalovic, 2014). Male C57BL/6 mice were selected as an experimental model and 16S rRNA high‐throughput sequencing was used to analyze the effects of PC treatment on the intestinal microbiota
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