Lactobacillus plantarum 17‐1 Ameliorate DSSInduced Colitis by Modulating Colonic Microbiota Composition and Metabolome in Mice

Background/Objectives: Lactobacillus strains are widely used as probiotics in the functional food industry and show potential for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum 17-1 on the intestinal immune response and gut microbiota in mice with colitis. Methods: Mice were pre-fed a diet containing microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum 17-1 for three weeks, followed by colitis induction using 2.5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water for 8 days. Results: Lactobacillus plantarum 17-1 significantly improved clinical symptoms and histopathological features in colitis-affected mice. Additionally, it effectively suppressed the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-17 in the colon tissue of the mice. The probiotic administration increased the linear discriminant analysis score for several beneficial bacterial taxa, including Ruminococcaceae_UCG_014, Bacteroides, Prevotellaceae_UCG_001, Lactococcus, Weissella, Pediococcus, and so on. Also, Lactobacillus plantarum 17-1 regulated the abundance of inflammation-related metabolites which involved in linolenic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, primary bile acid biosynthesis and tyrosine metabolism. Conclusions: These findings indicate that microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum 17-1 has a significant anti-inflammatory effect in the DSS-induced colitis model and may serve as a potential therapeutic strategy for IBD.