Administering Lactobacillus helveticus H9 Alleviates Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis in Rats
Open Access
- 29 October 2026
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Fermentation
- Vol. 12 (11) , 503
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic non-specific gut inflammatory disease. Conventional treatments are insufficient to support long-term disease remission, so there is an urgent need to search for new IBD treatment options. This study evaluated the alleviation effect of Lactobacillus (L.) helveticus H9 on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis rats. We found that administering L. helveticus H9 significantly reduced DAI (disease activity index) scores (p ≤ 0.05), spleen weights (p ≤ 0.05), and colonic tissue damage in the colitis rats, while increasing the body weight gain rate. Compared with the DSS group, L. helveticus H9-receiving rats had less serum tumor necrosis factor-α (p ≤ 0.05) and interleukin-1β (p < 0.01), a higher gut microbiota diversity, and significantly more Alistipes senegalensis (p ≤ 0.05) and Parabacteroides distasonis (p < 0.01). On the metabolomics level, 65 significantly differential metabolites (VIP > 1, p < 0.05, fold change > 2 or L. helveticus H9 modulated the gut microbiota, metabolome, and host immune response, which could relate to symptom alleviation in the colitis rats. Our study provides interesting data regarding the use of probiotics in managing chronic colitis.Keywords
Funding Information
- Scientific Research Foundation for High-level Talents of Huangshan University (2024xkjq017)
- Major Project of Anhui Provincial Collaborative Technology Service Center for Rural Revitali-zation (XCZXZD2502)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001711)
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