Abstract
The intestinal tract of a healthy body is home to a large variety and number of microorganisms that will affect every aspect of the host’s life. In recent years, polysaccharides have been found to be an important factor affecting intestinal flora. Polysaccharides are widely found in nature and play a key role in the life activities of living organisms. In the intestinal tract of living organisms, polysaccharides have many important functions, such as preventing the imbalance of intestinal flora and maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier. Moreover, recent studies suggest that gut microbes can influence brain health through the brain-gut axis. Therefore, maintaining brain health through polysaccharide modulation of gut flora deserves further study. In this review, we outline the mechanisms by which polysaccharides maintain normal intestinal flora structure, as well as improving cognitive function in the brain via the brain-gut axis by virtue of the intestinal flora. We also highlight the important role that gut microbes play in the pathogenesis of depression and the potential for treating depression through the use of polysaccharides to modulate the intestinal flora.
Highlights
Gut microbiota has been studied for decades
We review scientific findings on the regulation of gut microbial structure by polysaccharides, the utilization of polysaccharides by gut microbes, and the effects of gut microbes on the brain via the brain-gut axis
Studies have demonstrated that certain intestinal microorganisms can provide themselves with a carbon source by fermenting polysaccharides, which will facilitate the production of important metabolites by intestinal microorganisms, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) (Yao et al, 2020a)
Summary
Gut microbiota has been studied for decades. There is a large amount of experimental data confirming the key role of gut microbes in a living organism and calling the gut microbiome “the second genome of the human body” (Zhu et al, 2010), which shows the importance of intestinal flora is greatly recognized in academic circles. Researchers have found that polysaccharides, either in food ingredients or artificially extracted from specific plants, play an important role in regulating intestinal flora and can provide effective treatment for related diseases. After scientists’ unremitting research, the antioxidant, anti-aging and immunity-regulating functions of polysaccharides have been widely used (Tian et al, 2020; Ren et al, 2021) In addition to these well-known functions of polysaccharides, scientists have found that polysaccharides and intestinal microorganisms have an interactive relationship. The mystery of using polysaccharides to regulate the gut microbiota to maintain normal cognitive function in the brain and improve depression has been gradually unraveled by scientists in recent years. This provides a new approach to treating depression and maintaining normal cognitive function. We will further explore the potential of modulating gut microbiota through polysaccharides to treat depression and maintain normal cognitive performance and provide an outlook on the development of this method in the future
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