Lentinula edodes-derived polysaccharide rejuvenates mice in terms of immune responses and gut microbiota

Abstract

Aging is characterized by impaired immunity and unbalanced gut microbiota. Prebiotics have the capability to prevent or reverse age-related declines in health by modulating gut microbiota. Mushroom polysaccharides have been suggested to be potential prebiotics. However, their effects on the immunity and gut microbiota in aged mice have not been determined. This study firstly assessed the effects of a heteropolysaccharide L2 isolated from the fruit body of L. edodes on the immune response of aged mice, and then compared the composition of fecal microbiota in adult (N), old (O) and L2-treated old (Oa) mice using the high-throughput pyrosequencing technique. The results showed that L2 can restore the age-attenuated immune responses by increasing cytokine levels in peripheral blood. Moreover, L2 can partly reverse the age-altered composition of gut microbiota. The Euclidean distances (De) among 3 groups (N, O and Oa) are determined to be De(O, N) = 0.19, De(O, Oa) = 0.20, and De(N, Oa) = 0.10, i.e. there is a marked reduction in the distance from 0.19 to 0.1 by L2. This suggests the beneficial effects of L2 on enhancing immunity and improving gut health.

Lentinula edodes Genome Survey and Postharvest Transcriptome Analysis

“…Recently, it was shown that lentinan can be effective for treating gut inflammation (4). It is also reported that polysaccharides extracted from Lentinula edodes can restore age-attenuated immune responses and reverse age-related alterations of gut microbiota compositions in mice (5). Furthermore, Lentinula edodes can be a source of ergosterol and ergothioneine (6).…”

1H NMR-based metabolic investigation of the effect ofLentinula edodes-derived polysaccharides on aged mice

“…Mushroom polysaccharides exhibit advantages in immune‐modulating and anti‐tumor activities and have attracted intensive investigations to date (Ruthes et al, ). In a prior study, L2 exhibited anti‐ageing effects in the immune function and gut microbiota in aged mice (Xu et al, ). However, knowledge about the metabolic response to L. edodes ‐derived polysaccharide intervention in complex biological systems is still very limited.…”

“…Ageing processes are characterized by decline in immune responses (Xu et al, ), alterations of gut microbiota (Biagi et al, ), and changes in the nutrient sensing pathway (Lopez‐Otin, Blasco, Partridge, Serrano, & Kroemer, ). In particular, ageing in vivo decreases enzymatic activities participating in energy metabolism and the rate of oxidative phosphorylation resulting in an altered metabolic profile, which is shown as a metabolic shift from mitochondrial respiration to glycolysis in myoblasts (Paasuke et al, ).…”

“…The detailed processes of animal experiments were described in previous studies (Xu et al, ). Briefly, fourteen 48‐week old specific pathogen‐free male C57BL/6 mice were divided into normal and L2‐treated groups ( n = 7), respectively.…”

“…Previous studies reported that one type of L. edodes ‐derived polysaccharide, named L2, showed immune‐stimulating activity in vitro and enhanced immune responses in vivo characterized by alterations in the gut microbiota and differential expressions in genes and proteins in the gut of adult mice (Xu, Yan, & Zhang, ; Xu, Yang, Ning, & Zhang, ; Xu & Zhang, ). L2 also exhibited anti‐ageing effects by partially restoring age‐attenuated immune functions and reversing the age‐altered gut microbial communities (Xu, Yang, Ning, & Zhang, ). To explore the metabolic effects and better understand the anti‐ageing mechanism of L2, a urinary 1 H NMR‐based metabolomics approach was performed to investigate the metabolic responses to L2 intervention in aged mice.…”